CMO takes serious cognisance of PMC apathy in NIBM Annexe-Mohammed Wadi

The complaint was lodged with the CMO by the NIBM Annexe Residents’ Forum (NARF) through its director Jaymala Dhankikar

The chief minister’s office (CMO) has taken serious cognisance of the Pune Municipal Corporation’s (PMC’s) apathy toward the problems of residents of NIBM Annexe and Mohammed Wadi after residents and activists lodged a complaint with the CMO, seeking prosecution and registration of criminal cases against the civic body for continuous negligence toward the residents’ problems. The complaint was lodged with the CMO by the NIBM Annexe Residents’ Forum (NARF) through its director Jaymala Dhankikar.

The petition demanded that maximum amenity spaces be converted into gardens, urban forests. (HT PHOTO)

The petition pointed out that more than 10,000 area residents were suffering due to faulty planning, corruption and lack of a citizen-centric approach on the part of the PMC. It stated that three development plan (DP)-sanctioned roads slated to be constructed at a cost of around ₹40 crore were incomplete owing to the lack of mandatory land acquisition by the road department for the past 10 years. The petition demanded that maximum amenity spaces be converted into gardens, urban forests and bird habitats to reverse climate change and its disastrous impact on the environment.

As part of a charter of demands submitted to the CMO, the citizens demanded installation of CCTV cameras from Anandvan Gate to Pristine Viva Society and from S M Ghule Chowk to Dorabjee Mall covering all lanes and by-lanes to prevent anti-social elements and criminals from taking over public roads and footpaths. They stressed that drainage- and water supply- infrastructure be constructed urgently.

When contacted, Dhankikar said, “It has come to our notice that during the past 10 years, the PMC road department including land measurement, electrical, garden department etc. has shown complete disregard to the citizens’ issues despite ₹200 crore in property tax collected from the area. There are no good roads and most of the roads are incomplete due to land acquisition-related issues and other legalities. All these problems have been deliberately created by the PMC due to its culture of corruption, bribery and commission. We have demanded a police probe into the unprofessional conduct of the civic body officials as the citizens’ life is at stake due to overflowing drainages; and lack of drinking water, footpaths and CCTV surveillance among others.”

Prominent civic rights’ activist Ashok Mehendale who has taken up cudgels against the PMC said that civic officials have been found shirking their responsibilities for the past several years, leading to utter civic neglect. “The citizens’ demand for clean drinking water, good roads, footpaths, security, police patrolling, an end to noise pollution, and other citizen-centric amenities has gone largely ignored by the civic body,” Mehendale said. He has filed a string of separate petitions on various area-related issues demanding strong action against PMC officials for negligence.

Area resident Anzar Rade demanded that drainage infrastructure be constructed urgently on the road from S M Ghule Chowk to Pristine Viva Society. “Vested interests have ensured that drainage lines are not constructed, and the PMC health- and drainage- department staff are conveniently ignoring the health hazards related to overflowing drainage water for the past five years. We demand that the drainage infrastructure be constructed at the earliest,” he said.

In its response to the CMO intervention, the PMC administration said that all departments have been instructed to take immediate steps and ensure that the residents’ grievances are addressed at the earliest. A compliance report has also been sought regarding the work carried out on ground related to the citizens’ complaints.