Complete river rejuvenation, 24x7 projects by next financial year: Addl commissioner tells PMC

While the civic body was expected to finish the river rejuvenation project by March 31, 2025, officials claim 70 per cent work is completed whereas activists allege that only 50 per cent is done on the ground

With the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) facing flak over delay in execution of river rejuvenation and 24x7 water projects, additional municipal commissioner Prithviraj BP instructed the administration to speed up the works.

Recently, Pune municipal commissioner Rajendra Bhosale had written to the central government seeking one year extension for the river rejuvenation project. (HT file)

Charing a review meeting on Thursday, Prithviraj directed officials and contractors to finish the crucial projects by the end of next financial year.

“The officials have been instructed to clean all the water tanks in the city. Of the 144 water tanks, 60 have been cleaned till date and water meters are also getting installed at many areas,” he said.

Recently, Pune municipal commissioner Rajendra Bhosale had written to the central government seeking one year extension for the river rejuvenation project. While the civic body was expected to finish the project by March 31, 2025, officials claim 70 per cent work is completed whereas activists allege that only 50 per cent is done on the ground.

Congress leader Mohan Joshi has criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the project’s delay.

“The ruling BJP is more interested in the JICA’s river rejuvenation project. The party had felicitated the then minister Prakash Javadekar nine years ago for approving the project and has been showing the yet-to-be-completed project as a major success,” he said.

The leader said the BJP failed to complete the river rejuvenation project despite running the civic body and ruling the state for five years. Seeking one year extension for the plan exposes the failure of PMC.