Rs500 crore for Pavana project: Civic body to bear 30% cost

Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) will bear 30% cost of the Rs500 crore pilot project of Pavana river front development project. The central government has promised to foot 50% of the project cost while the remaining 20% will come from the state government.

The standing committee was to discuss the issue on Tuesday after the civic administration tabled a proposal regarding the same. However, the meeting has been adjourned.

“PCMC plans to work out the Pavana river development projects in two phases. We have recently sent the feasibility report for the project to the National River Conservation Directorate,” said additional municipal commissioner Prakash Kadam.

Under the pilot project, the works lined up include desilting of the riverbed, removal of debris and garbage from the river, constructing cycle tracks and roads along the river and stopping flow of sewage into the river. Pavana river gets polluted mostly due to the release of effluents generated by the industrial units into the river.

The desilting work at the river has not been conducted since 20 years.

According to the Pavana development plan report, the civic body is developing the 20-km-long stretch of Pavana river from Mamurdi to Dapodi. The civic body has constructed sewage treatment plants to treat the sewage within its jurisdiction, but there are no treatment plants in the areas under the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation. This allows the untreated sewage to flow into the nullahs, thereby polluting the river.

The civic body also plans to prevent the encroachments, construction of roads for increasing connectivity and provide entertainment facilities for people visiting the riverbed.
There will be two to four-lane roads on both sides of the river at a higher level depending upon the availability of land. To avoid the stagnation of river water in the bunds, especially in the areas of Ravet, Thergaon, Chinchwadgaon, Kasarwadi (Pimpri) and Sangvi, the civic body has proposed to conduct a survey of the five bunds within the municipal limits and determine whether they are required. If not, the civic body will demolish them.

The civic body proposes to install gates at the bunds to regulate the flow of water.
At the second phase of the plan, PCMC proposes to create entertainment facilities to generate revenue.