Devnadi concretisation continues: Pune citizens

A day after the Bombay high court stayed the ongoing concretisation on the course of Devnadi, Baner residents alleged that the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) was continuing with the work on the sly.

Protesting against the ongoing concretisation along the central course of the river in Baner, they made the allegations to the media on Friday.The Baner Area Sabha (BAS) and Jal Biradari had moved a public interest litigation (PIL) for stoppage of all concretisation work along the course of the river in Baner.

The PMC’s concretisation work is a part of the Rs400-crore Jawaharlal Nehru national urban renewal mission’s project of storm water drain system improvement across the 23 river basins in the city.

The high court had stayed the concretisation with immediate effect on Thursday. However, on Friday, local residents and BAS members Anupam Saraph and Suneel Joshi, and Jal Biradari member Vinod Bodhankar, said that the work was still
continuing.

“We apprehended workers of the contractor while they were using an excavator,” they said.

Additional commissioner (general) Naresh Zurmure said the civic body was clearing debris from the central course of Devnadi. “The high court has stayed the concretisation of the river. But it has not prevented us from removing debris and obstructions in its main course. This work is essential to prevent flash floods,” he said.