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Once garbage depot, Uruli landfill site attracts film shooting and study tours
Once known for flies, foul smell and leachate, the Uruli Devachi, Phursungi garbage depot has been converted to a lush green space with request from Bollywood for film shooting and school study trips
Pune: Once known for flies, foul smell and leachate, the Uruli Devachi, Phursungi garbage depot has been converted to a lush green space and one of the city’s major attractions with request from Bollywood for film shooting and school study trips.
According to the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) officials, the forest cover, named Amrut Van, has been sought for shooting of Akshay Kumar and Sara Ali Khan’s upcoming movie ‘Sky Force’.
The agency making arrangement for the film shooting has requested PMC to provide the land for shooting between February and March 2024, civic officials involved in the process said.
Sandip Kadam, head, PMC solid waste management department, said, “We have received an application from an agency for Akshay Kumar’s movie. They want to use the concrete ground and nearby land with thick forest cover for their film.”
The land and nearby location will be used for shooting as well as a military base as a part of film.
“As a part of shooting for ‘Sky Force’, we would like to have garbage depot and nearby concrete ground where a military base will be created,” stated a January 8 letter from the film shooting agency to PMC.
After facing criticism and opposition from nearby residents, Pune civic body converted the 20-acre garbage dump into forest. As a part of the process, over 20,000 saplings were planted, which have grown to more than 10-foot-tall trees over the past three and a half years.
“We have given permission for film shooting on the land that was once shunned by people for stink and other issues,” said Kadam, adding that the civic body had successfully turning the land into forest after carrying out scientific capping.
“Even some schools are organising study tour on the land since last couple of months,” he said.
According to another civic official, the project to convert garbage depot into forest started in 2017-18 and the civic body planted saplings of domestic species. Like Japanese Miyawaki method, PMC garden department adopted urban forest system and planted trees at less distance to create green cover.
Ashok Ghorpade, head, PMC garden department head, said, “The civic body faced criticism for the stinking garbage depot. Now an urban forest with over 20,000 trees has been developed on the land. PMC had named the urban forest Amrut Van.”
Civic officials said that though the land is not yet open for public, it will become a major attraction once the walkways are developed by the authorities.
