Pune civic commissioner assures Vetal tekdi-area residents of no road on hill slope

Delegation of residents from Erandwane, Deccan and Kothrud, met the civic chief and urged him to deny permission to MIT to build the said road, citing DC Rules 2017, that disallowed any construction on hill slopes

Days after the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) asked the Maharashtra Institute of Technology (MIT) to clear debris gathered on Vetal tekdi (hill), which exists because of a road being built on the hill slope, area residents met municipal commissioner Vikram Kumar on Tuesday.

According to citizens, the rubble piled up near the dug-up road at Vetal tekdi is hazardous to residents of the societies of Rambaug Colony at the foothills. (HT PHOTO)

The delegation of residents from Erandwane, Deccan and Kothrud, met the civic chief and urged him to deny permission to MIT to build the said road, citing DC Rules 2017, that disallowed any construction on hill slopes.

“The meeting with the PMC chief was quite positive and we were given reassurances that the road will be scrapped. We were reassured to know that the PMC will not be giving any permission to MIT to carry out construction activity on the hill and that the PMC’s demolition work of the built-up portion will resume as soon as the court lifts the status quo,” said Sushma Date, one of the members of the Deccan Gymkhana Parisar Samiti.

The residents are also confident that MIT will remove the debris soon.

“We trust that the debris removal work will be carried out quickly and all the rubble cleared soon. Currently the rubble piled up there is hazardous to residents of the societies of Rambaug Colony at the foothills,” said Date.

Yuvraj Deshmukh, superintending engineer, Building department, PMC, said, “The copies of the notice by PMC denying permission to MIT to construct on a hill slope will be shared with the residents tomorrow.”

On December 8, 2020, the Maharashtra Institute of Technology (MIT), was issued instructions by PMC officials to excavate the “internal road”, on the Vetal tedki hillslope, survey no 123, Kothrud, and clear the debris collected.

A stop-work notice was issued to MIT citing unauthorised work on the hill slope at survey number 123 in Kothrud, and on December 4, 2020, the PMC had dug up the road being constructed and ordered the institute to clear the debris within two days.

Meanwhile, Deshmukh said that they cannot comment on the court hearing as the matter is subjudice and MIT officials were unavailable for comment despite repeated attempts.