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Pune: Poor rail service, bad roads still irk locals

Unresolved civic issues make Maval a difficult battlefield for Sena MP Barne

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Demolition drive against illegal constructions in Maval; (inset) Farmers agitation against the Pavana pipeline project
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It will be a fight for prestige for Shiv Sena in the Maval constituency of Lok Sabha this election. Sena will be looking to defend its fortress amidst the speculations of NCP leader Ajit Pawar's son Parth Pawar making his political debut by contesting election from here.

Amidst the political fight, sitting MP of Shiv Sena Shrirang Barne will have to fight out the unsolved issues of unauthorised construction and water supply problems.

Divided between Pune and Raigad districts, the Maval constituency has different sets of issues in these two districts. The areas of Pune district which mostly consists of Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation mostly has urban issues that include unauthorised construction, water supply problems, long pending issue of ring road and conflict land issues between civilians and defence.

The areas of Raigad constituency have issues like infrequent local trains, poor quality roads etc. Some of these areas have tribal belts where basic infrastructure has not yet reached. Sitting MP Shrirang Barne, however claimed that he has done lot of work particularly in the tribal belt which was neglected for over 70 years now. "Under the Central government's Saubhagya Scheme, I managed to provide electricity to the tribal belt in the Raigad district. I have also resolved the electricity problems in Tungi village, where there was no power since independence."

The residents of the constituency, however state otherwise. They claim that Barne did not work on core issues which are troubling the larger population of the constituency. Agreeing to this, Dhiraj Lande, resident of Chinchwad area said, "We have been having issues of illegal constructions in the area for a long time now. Before 2014, all contesting candidates assured us to look into the matter and resolve our grievances, but Barne never paid heed after the election results were out."

Another glaring issue of the constituency is the water supply problem in Pimpri Chinchwad. There was a project of lifting water from Pavana dam through pipeline and to provide it to the PCMC area.

However, the farmers in Maval protested and opposed the project. This led the police to open fire and four farmers were killed in 2011. Since then, the issue remains unresolved.

Sanjog Waghere, PCMC unit chief of NCP said, "Barne failed to resolve the long pending issue of water pipeline in the PCMC areas. He has also not taken any efforts to solve the issue of illegal construction in the area." He further added that, "As far as the Raigad district is concerned, the residents are facing issues like bad roads, poor connectivity of the train service at important junctions like Kalyan and Panvel."

Barne however claimed that it was in his tenure that the shuttle service between Panvel-Karjat started. "I have also constantly pursued the issue with the railway ministry and started Nerul-Uran local service," Barne said.

ILLEGAL CONSTRUCTIONS ARE A MAJOR ISSUE

In 2014 Residents were assured of the issue being resolved, but it remains hanging till now

CONSTITUENCY PROFILE AND DEMOGRAPHICS

Maval constituency comprises of six legislative constituencies of which three are from Pune district, namely, Pimpri, Chinchwad and Maval and the other three comprise of Panvel, Karjat and Uran. The constituency has 60 per cent of rural and 40 per cent of urban and semi urban area. There is large number of population of tribal communities residing in the constituency. The Lok Sabha seat for last two elections has remained with Shiv Sena where Gajanan Babar won the seat in 2009 and in 2014 Barne retained the seat for Sena.

Shrirang Barne, Shiv Sena, MP

POLITICAL EQUATIONS

2014

The alliance of BJP-Sena worked well for Barne. Local leader Laxman Jagtap who contested from Peasants and Workers party of India, could not give fight to the Sena-BJP alliance.

2019

Amidst the tussle between Sena and BJP both in the centre and the state, the chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has openly announced that if Sena does not support BJP, his party will give candidate for Lok Sabha from Maval. The other speculation is of Ajit Pawar's son Parth Pawar contesting election from Maval. If Pawar decides to fight from Maval, NCP will make sure that Pawar comes out victorious.

PERFORMANCE OF MPS

  • 292 Debate 
  • 1,000 Questions
  • 20 Private Members’ Bills
  • 92% Attendance

UTILISATION OF MPLAD FUNDS

  • Rs 25 cr Entitlement to constituency
  • Rs 17.50 cr Fund released by GOI 
  • Rs 15.10 cr Expenditure
  • Utilisation percentage over amount released 86.30%
  • Unspent balance 2.91%

THUS SPOKE JANATA

Road infrastructure is being developed at a brisk rate. We could see many flyovers and roads are being completed very swiftly. Water and other basic services have improved.
Mugdha Pradhan, Chartered Accountant

We can see new real estate developers investing in properties because of the development work in MIDC area. Many companies are seen setting up in the area, giving boost to the many economies in the area.
Jude Parera, Businessman

There are several unauthorised properties established in Maval. Very little efforts have been made to resolve the issue, there is a need to take a concrete step.
Sarang Dahiwal, Civil Engineer

The MP should work in solving traffic issues at Hinjewadi IT park. There are lot of IT professionals staying in PCMC who daily spend hours juggling traffic.
Saurabh Awati, IT Professional

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