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PMC failed to act against encroachments, admit Mohol and Patil
Mohol and Patil convened a review meeting with the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) officials to assess various projects and later interacted with the media persons
Minister of state for civil aviation and Pune MP Murlidhar Mohol, along with Maharashtra cabinet minister Chandrakant Patil on Saturday, acknowledged that despite their instructions, the administration has not been taking the anti-encroachment drive seriously.
Mohol and Patil convened a review meeting with the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) officials to assess various projects and later interacted with the media persons.
The two leaders, accompanied by city MLAs, warned the municipal commissioner Rajendra Bhosale to address the growing menace of encroachments and take firm action against culprits.
Even after the last meeting, where elected members unanimously supported removing encroachments, no substantial action followed beyond an initial response.
Mohol admitted, “It is true that after the previous meeting, the administration merely staged a show of conducting an encroachment drive for two to three days and then stopped.”
“This time, I have directed them to take the matter seriously and ensure the removal of encroachments. No political interference will obstruct the drive. I will personally monitor the action reports from time to time,” he added.
Several areas in the city have witnessed a surge in encroachments over the past few days, including Sahakarnagar, Fergusson College Road, Katraj Dairy Square, Shivajinagar, and other localities.
Patil stated, “There were two major elections in the last six months—the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. With the new government now in place, things will gradually normalize. We acknowledge that some tasks were delayed, but we are committed to pushing forward development works and ensuring the appointment of necessary staff to handle various projects.”
Mohol also highlighted the commitment to make 30 prominent city roads pothole-free by the end of January. “The selected roads will be resurfaced and maintained to ensure they remain free of potholes,” he said.
Patil directed the administration to expedite the river rejuvenation project in collaboration with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). He noted that while the work on nine Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) is almost complete, progress on the 51 km trunk line is significantly lagging, with only 6 km laid so far.
“If the trunk line work continues to be delayed, the PMC will not be able to operationalize the STPs. The administration must speed up this work,” he said.
