The state government recently issued a notification of merging 34 fringe villages within the PMC jurisdiction. Of these 34 villages, the merger of 11 villages will be completed by December 2017 adding to an additional population of 2.78 lakh within the ambit of the PMC…
A decision about merging the remaining 23 villages would be taken in the next three years in phases, considering the availability of water, garbage planning and connectivity, sources said.
The decision has been taken with the aim to provide better civic facilities to people living in these fringe villages for which the civic administration will have to bear the additional financial responsibility.
We talked to some puneites to get their reaction on the decision of the Maharashtra government.
Col. Shashikant Dalvi:
Solid waste management– additional 2.78 populations will add around 166 metric tonnes of garbage daily. Water supply management– as per entitlement newly added population will require around 380 lakh litres of water daily.
When segregation & composting is a problem with the current population, how will this problem be addressed? PMC is unable to provide uninterpreted water supply of 135 litres a day.
How will this additional supply be met & from which source? Come heavy showers and our city roads are flooded with storm water.
Presently PMC is able to treat around 60 % of domestic sewage, with existing treatment plants, rest untreated enters water bodies like rivers etc. What are the plans to treat domestic sewage of newly added population? Our city rivers & other water bodies are destined to remain polluted. The current Bus Fleet is inadequate to meet existing demands, additional buses will cause huge traffic problems along with air pollution.
Parth Welankar: Unfortunately, because of the lack of facilities these villages have been merged to provide better assistance. But at the same time civic problems in the city should not be ignored. There are other administrative bodies like departments of the state government who could have helped the villages. Pune Municipal Corporation should first pay heed to their problems first and then look at others.
Sharad Bodage: I think we have to make small corporations instead of merger of villages in a corporation. Areas like Baner are already facings basic problems like water and drainage system. Like Mumbai we can easily make 2-3 corporations in Pune. There should be separate corporations for those people who live in eastern part of Pune and other corporation for the people who live in the other part of the city. Before merging this village corporation has to create basic facilities so that in future, people should not face problems.
Sanjay Joshi: It’s difficult to manage but with uncontrolled development by builders and politicians with vested interests it is necessary to keep them in check. Not that it will make a difference to their attitude but at least there would be some check on the rampant construction without facilities in place.
Joseph Pinto: Honestly, it hardly matters what any citizen of Pune like me, thinks or supports. The state government, the PMC and the other government authorities simply do not care. The decision to merge or not to merge “x” number of fringe villages is taken by the big villagers who own farm-land, the big real-estate promoters & developers who have been buying up land in these fringe villages and the contractors who construct buildings and infrastructure. At every rung of the ladder, politicians are lobbied: corporators, MLAs, MPs, engineers, town planners. For a big city like Pune, even the CM and PM will get directly involved. As for civic amenities, none of these big-shots bother at all. The trick in merging fringe villages is simple- First merge the villages, second construct buildings, third get buyers.
Once the citizens come to stay, they realise there is no water, electricity and roads. Now you can leave the matter to these citizens who will have to fend for themselves and struggle for basic facilities. The builder vanishes and in his place comes the local corporator, who is often hand-in-glove with the builder. He will now pose as the saviour of citizens!!!
Madhav Patil: I don’t support this decision. Instead, the government should have come up with approval of Hadapsar Municipal Corporation. They should have decided in favour of two different Municipal Corporations rather than adding the area into the existing one. Within the current PCMC limit the problem of garbage still pertains.
As PCMC has planned to give 24×7 water supply, this would add more burden on it.
PMPML is not efficient for the current population and by adding these areas it would be a huge challenge for them.
#All views expressed in this column are those of the individual respondents and Pune365 does not necessarily subscribe to them.
Reach her at loveleen@pune365.com or tweet @KaurKaur18
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