2 weeks Ago By Alim Shaikh
Pune: Residents and environmental activists in Pimpri Chinchwad stepped up their protests against the Riverfront Development Project (RFD) on Sunday, with some of them wading into the Mula river at Pimple Nilakh holding placards. The PCMC's RFD project was launched earlier this year, to develop a section of the Mula riverbank at Pimple Nilakh. The activists said they now plan to organise a sit-in outside PCMC's office on Tuesday.
A solidarity walk has also been planned against the project on April 27, involving 100 citizens' groups from Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad, the activists said. "Our rivers are in the ICU, but civic officials in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad want to give them a beauty treatment, by building jogging tracks around them," said resident Tushar Shinde. He is also a member of the Pimpri Chinchwad Citizen Forum and the Smart City's advisory committee.
Shinde added: "Sewage treatment plants built by PCMC have not been running at full capacity. Sewage is being dumped into water bodies. Rivers like Pavana are polluted even before they reach Ravet.
PCMC, MPCB and MIDC should actually be working together to stop sewage from entering our rivers." On Sunday, at least 25 people were part of the protest at Pimple Nilakh, organized by Pune-PCMC River Revival. Last week, the activists met chief minister Devendra Fadnavis in Mumbai to raise their concerns about river pollution.
They have also met with members of opposition parties. "We already approached different authorities, including municipal commissioners, the district collector, CM, and different political leaders, but failed to receive any concrete assurance to stop the RFD project. As a result, we decided to intensify our protest to press for our demands," Pune-PCMC River Revival said in a statement to the press.
Many residents and activists fear riverfront development could reduce width of the Mula riverbed by as much as 38%, causing severe flooding and destruction of ecosystems along the water body. They have demanded that Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad municipal corporations stop their RFD projects and use the money to instead clean up the rivers. A senior PCMC official said the civic body has been working on "several initiatives" to clean river stretches.
"There were multiple stakeholder consultations even when DPR was being prepared for this project. Everyone's suggestion was taken into consideration," the official said..
