The Times of India                  07.06.2013

PCMC begins partial demolition of bund

PUNE: The PimpriChinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) has started partial demolition of a bund located across the Pavana river near military dairy farm.

The demolition work would be completed in the next four days, said Sanjay Kulkarni, executive engineer of the environment department of the PCMC.

The width of the river is 200 meters and the bund is 120 meters in length. The civic body will demolish half of it and replace it with a new bund with two collapsible gates which can be opened when required, said Kulkarni.

Civic officials said the partial demolition of the bund will prevent pollution and growth of water hyacinth. The construction of the new bund with collapsible gates will enable the civic body to flush out silt and floodwaters when required. "The existing bund has two iron gates which have rusted. There has been heavy accumulation of silt near the bund," officials said.

The Pimpri Military Dairy Farm was set up some 50 years ago by acquiring several acres of farm land adjacent to Pavana river near Pimple Saudagar, Kasarwadi and other areas.

The farm was built to rear cattle and provide milk to defence establishments.

Old-timers living close by recall that the river water was potable some 40 years back.

Growing urbanization has turned Pavana river into a drain carrying sewage, which is not even fit for agriculture purposes, they said.

Moreover the river water is now not even fit for agriculture, they said.

Local corporators from Pimpri, Kasarwadi, Pimple Gurav, Pimple Saudagar and Kasarwadi had earlier demanded that stagnant water near the existing bund be flushed out. The military dairy farm bund belongs to the defence authorities, who were reluctant to allow its demolition. But after several meetings with the civic officials they have finally relented.

"The defence authorities require five million litres per day (MLD) of water in the peak summer season for the cultivation of watering the fodder crops grown on their land. The civic body has offered them the treated water from the nearby sewage treatment plant (STP) at Kasarwadi to meet their needs. The new bund will enable the civic body to flush out stagnant water, which had become a breeding ground for mosquitoes," Kulkarni said.

Meanwhile, PCMC has also started demolition of one more bund near Sangvi which will be followed by another smaller bund in the same area.