Pune residents oppose STP proposal by PCB

The residents of the Pune Cantonment area vehemently opposed the proposed sewage treatment plant (STP) on a playground attached to the Ravindranath Tagore English Medium Primary School, Old Modikhana.

The school is flanked by the City Church cemetery and Sadhna old age home on one side and a 101-year-old Imambara, the only one in Pune for the Shia community, on the other.

According to Darius Marfatia, resident of the area, the playground is the only one in the vicinity where not just schoolchildren but also neighbouring children come to play. The playground is also abode to two huge banyan trees that residents claim are over 200 years old.

Viraf Surti, a resident, wanted to know if the Pune Cantonment Board (PCB) will dislodge the students in the school once the plant comes up. Senior trustee of the Imambara Haji Mohammed Husain Mastan and residents Ashok Bakshani, Ali Akbar Gulzar and Amad Babai lamented that this is the only green cover in the area.

The STP was first mooted by the PCB through a press release in June-end. Residents are upset that the officials did not call people for suggestions and objections regarding this matter before mooting the proposal.

PCB chief engineer, KV Shirodkar, said that the proposal for the STP was still to be placed before the board and gave no time frame for the same.

When asked if he was aware that residents are against the project, he replied in affirmative but refused to elaborate. The CEO of PCB, Rachel Koshy, refused to comment on the issue.