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PMC diverts ₹40 crore to buy 400 electric or CNG vehicles for solid waste collection
The Maharashtra government has allocated Rs504 crore from the 15th Finance Commission (FC) grant to PMC, PCMC
PUNE While the city is on track to become a hub of electric vehicles (e-vehicles) owing to increasing usage, Parisar and some other Pune-based social organisations have claimed that the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has diverted Rs40 crore from the funds allocated for the purchase of e-buses to buy waste collection vehicles. The Maharashtra government has allocated Rs504 crore from the 15th Finance Commission (FC) grant to the PMC, Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation, Pune Cantonment, Dehu Cantonment and Khadki Cantonment.
Organisations such as Parisar, Centre for Environment Education, Swach Pune Seva Sahakari Sanstha and Baner Pashan Link Road Welfare Trust have written a letter to this effect to alert the government and also provide recommendations for implementation. According to the letter addressed to state environment minister Aaditya Thackeray, the PMC has decided to buy 400 small waste-collection vehicles that will jeopardise the already existing decentralised waste management system in Pune.
The organisations are against the introduction of these new non-electric vehicles. Sharmila Deo, air quality coordinator, Parisar, said, “The CNG vehicles will lead to lesser segregation of waste. There will be more burning at landfills which will lead to air pollution. The vehicles will add to the pollution. We are against this because it will affect the air quality of the city.”
Significantly, the letter points out that the concept of battery-swapping stations in Pune should be implemented only after an analysis of its workability. “We feel there should not be so much investment (Rs15 crore) on this,” said Deo.
Responding to the claims made by Parisar and other organisations, Mangesh Dighe, PMC environmental conservation officer, said, “Eighty per cent of the 15th FC has been allocated for electric mobility. This includes electric buses, charging stations, batteries, first- and last- mile connectivity, etc.”
About the allocation for waste-collection vehicles, Dighe said, “According to our plan, we wish to buy e-vehicles for waste-collection. However, the e-vehicles existing now do not have the power to carry solid waste. We are exploring more options.”
At present, the solid waste management (SWM) department collects door-to-door waste using 241 Tata Ace. The PMC plans to buy 400 small ghantagadi(s) under the electric component of the plan. Maheshkumar Doiphode, deputy commissioner of the motor vehicles department of the PMC, said, “We are currently working on the purchase of both e-buses and e-vehicles for solid waste management. In case we are not able to buy or rent e-vehicles for waste collection, we will buy CNG vehicles.”
Meanwhile, the letter written by the organisations has neither received any response from Aaditya Thackeray nor from the PMC. Even after multiple calls and messages by Hindustan Times, Aaditya Thackeray did not respond.
