Residents up against proposed garbage depot in Punawale
In 2008, this land was designated for a solid waste management project following a request from the civic body
Residents of Punawale and Pimpri-Chinchwad Cooperative Societies Federation (PCCSF) held a bike rally on Sunday opposing the proposed garbage depot project at Punawale. The rally started at 18 Latitude Mall with Chipko Andolan, a tree-hugging protest in the Kate Wasti forest area. Hundreds of area residents from the twin cities of Pimpri Chinchwad participated in the rally.
The forest department currently owns 22 hectares of land in Punawale, under the jurisdiction of the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC). In 2008, this land was designated for a solid waste management project following a request from the civic body. The said land of the forest department for a garbage depot at survey number 24 in Punawale village located off Katraj-Dehu road bypass.
The PCMC in exchange for the land had paid ₹3.5 crore to the forest department and promised to provide an alternative 22 hectares of land. However, with no efforts from PCMC to acquire this land in the past 15 years, several residential projects, schools and colleges came up in the vicinity of the proposed land. After the civic body started movements to acquire the land in Punawale to start its second Garbage depot this led to unrest amongst the area residents.
Sachin Londe, vice president, PCCSF, said, the garbage depot is coming up in a residential zone and will lead to inconvenience and health hazards to thousands of residents living in the vicinity.
“The PCMC earlier said there would be no construction in the 500-metre radius of the proposed plot and later this buffer zone was brought down to 100 meters. There are a lot of water bodies and trees in the area and the depot will cause pollution and harm the environment,” he, said.
Mayur Patil, another area resident, said, that despite the protest, the PCMC is firm on its decision to start the depot at this location.
“We have also met Eknath Shinde, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and local Member of Legislative Assembly, Ashwini Jagtap requesting to look for alternative arrangements,” he said.
Sagar Lendwe, another resident, said the bike rally was organised to voice the concern of thousands of residents living in the vicinity of the proposed project.
Residents from Punawale, Jambe, Tathawade, Marunji, Hinjewadi, and Wakad participated in the protest.
“Large trees would have to be cut down to set up the garbage depot. This will affect the day-to-day life of all the residents. This area has big residential projects, schools, colleges and one of India’s biggest Hinjewadi IT parks nearby,” Lendwe said.
A senior PCMC official, on anonymity, said, there will be no garbage depot on this land, but a material recovery facility (MRF) will be started at this location.
“The land parcel in Chandrapur district which will be given to the Forest department in exchange for Punawale land has been identified. PCMC will spend around ₹8 crores of the land. There will be a complete buffer zone of 100 meters around the proposed unit,” said the official.