The Times of India      08.10.2010

A Clear Boundary Will Help Prevent Encroachment

 PUNE: After the severe flooding and loss of life which took place in parts of Pune on September 29 and October 4, various experts and party leaders in Pimpri and Chinchwad are calling for action. They have demanded that the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) clearly demarcate the 113 nullahs that lie within its municipal limits and remove encroachments from them.

Aside from the encroachments, the PCMC has itself built a vegetable market over a nullah in Akurdi and a toilet block on part of another nullah in Akurdi.

At other places, the width of the nullahs has been reduced and their flow diverted. For example, a nullah in Chinchwad near the Pune-Mumbai highway causes flooding in a slum located upstream. At another spot in Chinchwad, a housing complex has been built on a nullah and water is supposed to flow from a passage beneath the buildings.

Says Vikas Patil, president, environment conservation committee, "There is a need for the PCMC to demarcate the boundaries of the rivers and nullahs flowing through the municipal limits so that people know the boundaries and do not encroach on the nullahs. Farmers in Chikhli, Bhosari, Moshi, Talawade and other newly-merged villages have filled up the nullahs that flow through their land and have sold the plots. There is an urgent need to remove the encroachments on the nullahs in various parts of the municipal limits to avoid a flood-like situation as happened in Pune."

According to Subhash Dumbre, outgoing additional commissioner, the PCMC had conducted a survey of the nullahs within the municipal limits three years ago while submitting proposals for stormwater drains to the Union government under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) scheme.

He defended the construction of the vegetable market saying, "If there is adequate space for rainwater to go through the nullah, then there is no problem in constructing a vegetable market on it."

Channelisation of the nullahs is designed keeping in view its water-carrying capacity for a period of 30 years, he said. "In the first phase of action, the PCMC will remove bottlenecks in critical areas on the nullahs which cause waterlogging in the surrounding areas," he said.

"I have written a letter to municipal commissioner Ashish Sharma, suggesting a survey of all the nullahs within municipal limits," said Rajendra Kate, Congress leader. "This will ensure that the nullahs are taken into account. When giving permission for new constructions, the building permission department should check whether nullahs flow on the particular plot and whether adequate measures are being taken to ensure the smooth flow of water."

Shiv Sena corporators have also urged the civic body to conduct a survey of the nullahs. Encroachments have come up on all the nullahs. Action should be taken against officials who have given permission for these constructions," said Sulabha Ubale, group leader of the Shiv Sena corporators.