Keshavnagar residents hold silent protest over poor amenities

Keshavnagar was merged with PMC in December 2017. Earlier, the residents began their protest against the civic body with #Keshavnagar on Twitter and even held meetings with the municipal commissioner, but the area is in a state of disarray, they say

Members of at least 27 residential societies held a silent protest against the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) in Keshavnagar on Sunday for not providing basic amenities in the area.

Members during the silent protest at Keshavnagar on Sunday. (HT PHOTO)

Keshavnagar was merged with PMC in December 2017. Earlier, the residents began their protest against the civic body with #Keshavnagar on Twitter and even held meetings with the municipal commissioner, but the area is in a state of disarray, they say.

“We have been paying taxes but for what? We do not even have basic amenities in place. With the merging of the village into the PMC boundaries, we were hopeful that amenities like roads, and water would be looked after, but we are yet to get water supply from PMC. We are paying Rs12 lakh per month for water. We do not have garbage collection either and the society that I live in, spends around ₹50,000 for garbage collection,” said Ranjeet Lonkar, chairman of Venkatesh Graffiti, Keshavnagar on behalf of Keshavnagar Societies Forum.

Chaitanya Sharma came to live in Keshavnagar a year ago. He said, “There is no development of the area at all. The traffic here is worst. For those going to work in Magarpatta, which is about 4 km away, in peak hours, it takes one hour. The Keshav Nagar Y junction and Lonkar Chowk are the worst affected.”