E-Paper
PMC finds new way to raze structures, away from prying eyes
From flattening the historic Bhide Wada to felling fully-grown trees to pulling down portions of the defunct Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS), the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) seems to have found a novel way of demolishing inconvenient structures – one that eliminates any possibility of public scrutiny or scrutiny
From flattening the historic Bhide Wada to felling fully-grown trees to pulling down portions of the defunct Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS), the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) seems to have found a novel way of demolishing inconvenient structures – one that eliminates any possibility of public scrutiny or scrutiny . The method in question involves tearing down all such structures in the dead of night so that there is neither the attendant opposition nor traffic congestion. Unsurprisingly, the reaction to the civic body’s modus operandi is quite a mixed bag.
Late night on December 6, the PMC began demolishing a major section of the Yerawada-Wagholi BRTS corridor on Ahmednagar Road. The operation continued till before dawn the next day.
On the night of December 4, the PMC quickly tore down the unsafe Bhide Wada building, staking claim by placing letters there. The action brought relief to the PMC in the Supreme Court (SC) hearing the next day when the top court rejected the request to extend time for taking control of the property. In that sense, this was a calculated move on the part of the PMC to avoid any further opposition from the tenants.
In October this year, it was at night that the PMC began carrying out anti-encroachment and road-widening drives at Mundhwa Chowk. Similarly, one night in August 2023, the civic body axed 35 fully-grown native species trees that were obstructing traffic on the Pune-Ahmednagar Highway.
Vikas Dhakane, additional municipal commissioner of PMC, said, “We aim to conduct actions or drives during the day but often due to traffic issues, the police department does not grant permission during the day. Unfortunately, we end up taking action at night. The demolition of Bhide Wada at night was necessitated by traffic problems and the crowded nature of the area during the day.”
Locals such as Vihang Deshpande from Kothrud have welcomed the midnight operations saying, “If the civic body had carried out any drive during the day, it would pose a problem for traffic and face resistance from different stakeholders. That way, the PMC will not be able to carry out anything.”
However, civic activist Vivek Velankar is critical of the PMC’s methods and says that as per the government rule book, action must be taken during the day.
“According to the government rule book, actions are supposed to be taken during the day, within official working hours. However, PMC is conducting drives at its own convenience, which always raises doubts. We can say that PMC is not fair enough to take action during the day. Besides that, the PMC takes very little action at night. It never takes anti-encroachment action at night which is very useful for it as well as for the citizens,” said Velankar.
