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MVA & BJP lock horns over riverfront development, project set to become another Aarey?
PUNE With the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) on Saturday having decided to suspend the Pune riverfront project over environmental concerns, the Rs2,600 crore project is well on its way to becoming the next Aarey
PUNE With the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) on Saturday having decided to suspend the Pune riverfront project over environmental concerns, the Rs2,600 crore project is well on its way to becoming the next Aarey. Environmental concerns over the project have now led to the MVA and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) engaging in mudslinging at each other. Environmentalists have been raising concerns over the project for the past few years ever since it was first proposed but the MVA government is now asking the same committees which first gave clearance to the project to once again scrutinise it. The move comes barely a week after Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of the project.
Mangesh Dighe who heads the environmental department said, “The detailed project report (DPR) of the project was first drafted in 2018 and got its due clearance from the standing committee and the general body meeting as well. It was then forwarded to the Central Water Power and Research Station (CWPRS) which gave clearance to the project in the same year with regards to hydraulics and hydrology concerns. The following year, the state environment impact assessment committee (SEIAC) gave clearance to the project. In 2021, the project got clearance from the irrigation department. All clearances are statutory. However now, concerns raised by environmentalists and NGOs are being reviewed and considered. Currently, a case is also underway with regards to the project in the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and hearings are going on.”
Explaining how the project has been planned for the next 100 years, Dighe said that based on the current rainfall pattern and rainfall output, the computer has used the same data to assess the flood line for the next 100 years based on which, the new cross-section has been made. He said, “While there are questions that the new barrages would obstruct the flow of the river, we are removing the current barrages or constructions along the river line which are not required and the new barrages would have gates which would allow the flow of water during the monsoons and restrict the flow during the summer. The low lying culverts and causeways below the flood lines like the causeway near Omkareshwar temple would be removed since they cause obstruction to the natural flow of the river.”
The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) – which is part of the MVA that had given its nod to the project – has now demanded that an interdepartmental committee be constituted. NCP chief Sharad Pawar in his press statement on Saturday justified the demand by stating that while the project would clean and decontaminate both the rivers, it is also important to consider the objections, questions and suggestions from environmentalists, NGOs and citizens. He said, “Jayantrao Patil suggested that a study group of experts from the department of water resources, environment and urban development and representatives of eco-friendly organisations should be appointed to consider the changes in the course of the river, obstruction of flow, and reduction of carrying capacity.”
Calling it a purely political move, BJP state president Chandrakant Patil said, “On March 6, Prime Minister Narendra Modi green-lighted the first phase of the metro project. The pace from bhumi pujan to inauguration in just five years is an example of the efficiency of the BJP. This was an event that instilled in the minds of the people of Pune the belief that BJP completes urban development projects effectively and on time. Once Sharad Pawar realised that this project too will be completed on time, he vowed to stop it. In yesterday’s meeting, the decision to suspend the project was not qualitative but political.”
