Urban News

It seems the Puneites’ dream of a beautified Mutha riverbank, complete with gardens and canopy of trees, will have to wait. The river beautification work will only be taken up in the second phase of the Mutha river development project as the Pune Municipal Corporation has been able to complete only 35 per cent work in the first phase.

Of the Rs 99.96 crore allocated for the first phase, the civic administration has spent only about Rs 30 crore in the past three years for the desilting work. The desilting and channelisation work has been completed only in the Warje-Sangam bridge stretch of the river so far and the civic body has cited delay in clearance from the Irrigation Department and delivery of funds under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission for it.

And now, the civic body has floated a tender for desilting work in the Sangam Bridge-Bund Garden stretch of the river. The work is estimated to cost Rs 27 crore.

The river development project was launched in 2007. The initial delay happened because of the delayed clearance from the Irrigation Department, as the river catchment is the prerogative of that department. Secondly, there was a delay in getting the sanctioned JNNURM funds,” said VR Patil, superintending engineer (special projects) of PMC. “In the first phase, we have cleared silt from the Mutha basin in the Warje-Sangam Bridge stretch. So far, we have spent approximately Rs 30 crore on this work and the total quantum of work we have finished is 35 per cent.”

The entire river development project has been divided into two phases, with the total cost of the first phase pegged at Rs 99.96 crore. Phase one basically deals with removing the silt from the Mutha river basin and this includes dredging the Mutha riverbed and channelisation of riverbanks. The deadline fixed for the completion of the first phase is June 2011. “Though the exact quantity of silt removed from the river basin could not be ascertained, we have managed to remove it on a huge scale. It has improved the water holding and water carrying capacity of the river,” Patil said.

The silt removed from the Warje-Mhatre Bridge stretch of the river was utilised as the base material for the Warje-Vitthalwadi Road. The silt yet to be removed will be used for channelising the river. “The work between Sangam Bridge and Bund Garden will cost the PMC Rs 27 crore and it has to be completed in a year, excluding the rainy days. We have floated tenders for this particular work and will soon receive responses.”

The second phase of the river development project, which is estimated to cost Rs 98 crore, deals with the beautification of Mula-Mutha rivers.

“The first phase of the project should have been completed by now. It has been delayed by the lackadaisical approach of the civic administration and now, we do not see any work happening on this front. The contention that the PMC did not receive funds under the JNNURM is wrong, as it keeps sitting on funds without utilising it,” BJP corporator Vikas Mathkari said.