PMC to pull down illegal structures on nullahs
The Pune Municipal Corporation has finally woken up to the grim reality of constructions blocking nullahs, by deciding to demolish illegal constructions on nullahs from Thursday.
PMC superintending engineer Madan Adhari said they had urged citizens to pull down illegal constructions on their own if they had raised any, to restore the natural flow of nullahs. “If the citizens do not act, we will demolish constructions found on nullahs from Thursday.”
The drive will involve 14 ward offices, encroachment department and the building permission department. The civic administration, which has come under fire after the flash floods this year and loss of lives, has identified that the illegal constructions on nullahs caused the floods. “The city witnessed heavy rainfall in the past few months. The sudden downpour played havoc in the city and left the city bruised. Taking this into consideration, the administration has undertaken action against illegal constructions that block the natural flow of nullahs and change its course. The administration has noticed structures like compound walls and other permanent constructions.”
As per Section 229 of the Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporations (BPMC) Act of 1949, such constructions are illegal on rivers, brooklets, nullahs and other natural water bodies. Adhari said the civic body had the right to pull down such constructions.
The civic administration, in its appeal, sought citizens’ help to restore the natural flow of nullahs and to increase its capacity, besides saving lives and avoiding financial losses.
Heavy rains had played havoc in parts of the city like Kothrud and Bavdhan in the first week of October, claiming many lives — most of them labourers living in hutments near nullahs. This had exposed the failure of the civic administration at various levels. The situation had forced municipal commissioner Mahesh Zagade to take stock of things himself. He had personally inspected, along with a retinue of civic officials, the nullahs between Warje and Erandwane. He had ordered immediate implementation of the nullah improvement plan after an on-the-spot inspection of nullahs in Kothrud, besides taking civic officials to task over what he described as “mismanagement of nullahs”.
