E-Paper
Case against 54 for dumping debris on Pawana blueline
PUNE: A case has been registered against 54 people living near the blue line of Pawana river for dumping debris and waste.
The booked people are mainly residents living near the blue line in Kasarwadi area of Pimpri-Chinchwad, according to the police.
“They are small-time farmers living nearby. It is not a major encroachment as we see it. It is the job of municipal corporation, but since they have lodged a complaint, we have registered a case. A panchnama will be conducted and due process will be followed,” said senior inspector Shankar Awtade of Bhosari police station.
The complaint was lodged by Rajendra Vasantrao Dumbre, deputy engineer in the building permission department at Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC).
“They had been served with notices in the past. As the PCMC noticed that the debris is still there, they lodged a complaint and a case was registered. After the notice served months ago, PCMC officials realised that they had not moved the debris,” said sub-inspector Bhimsen Shikhare of Bhosari police station who is investigating the case.
There are several spots along the Pawana as well as the Mula-Mutha rivers that run through the city. The issue of debris dumping must be discussed in the light of flash floods and intense rainfall in the city in the past few years. Satellite images could be a solution to finding these spots in an efficient manner, according to Sarang Yadwadkar, architect and environment activist from Pune.
“One can use Google Earth and go back on the timeline and then check for spots to find out where debris has been dumped and where new constructions have cropped up. It can be compared with images from different points in the timeline. The issue, however, with Google Earth is that it is two dimensional. I have presented such images before court as well (for Mula-Mutha river bed). In fact, the state government had come up with a notification to have high resolution satellite images taken in city as well as river bed. But no corporation has followed the notification,” said Yadwadkar.
A case under Section 53 of Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966 along with Sections 260, 261, 267 and 472 of Maharashtra Municipal Corporation Act, 1949 was registered at Bhosari police station against the offenders.