With the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) having initiated the formulation of its opinion to be submitted to the state government on the proposed merger of the Pune Cantonment Board (PCB) area with the corporation, cantonment residents and political leaders are hoping that the one and a half-decade-long exodus of old cantonment residents to the newer suburbs will eventually stop.
The cantonment population has reportedly shrunk from one lakh in 2007 to 71,781 in 2011 as per the 2011 Census even as businesses from all corners of the country are tapping into the cantonment’s commercial potential. The Pune Cantonment Board (PCB) currently has 38,327 voters on its rolls as per the revised final list readied and published in 2022. With the merger of the PCB with the PMC finally in sight, residents and political leaders are now anticipating that the reverse migration will finally come to an end.
The PCB – which is facing its worst financial crisis, and acute misgovernance for more than a decade now – has seen scores of residents migrating to adjoining areas such as Wadgaon Sheri, Ghorpadi, Koregaon Park and Kondhwa in search of better civic amenities. Residents have shifted base outside of the cantonment area primarily on grounds of strict floor space index (FSI) norms imposed by the board administration apart from being denied permission for reconstruction of their houses as ground plus one, two or three storeyed structures depending on their requirements over the years. Still, most owners have brazenly converted their residential properties into commercial structures, leasing them out to traders for guaranteed monthly rentals which in turn are being used either to buy or rent property outside the cantonment area. The residents who moved out of the cantonment area have done so for various reasons including lack of amenities, increased commercialisation, proliferation of hawkers, noise pollution and unauthorised constructions in addition to strict FSI and reconstruction norms. However, almost all residents who shifted out of the cantonment area continue to be voters on record, and have made sure that their family members too are duly registered as voters despite the shift in residence.
Former PCB vice-president Vinod Mathurawala said, “Most of the cantonment residents who migrated did so due to the space crunch. Since the Cantonment Act restricts additional construction to existing structures, residents with expanding families found it difficult to stay in congested spaces and hence, migrated to nearby areas to meet their growing space needs. However, they have continued to remain connected with their roots and all of them have their names as registered voters in the cantonment area.”
{{/usCountry}}Former PCB vice-president Vinod Mathurawala said, “Most of the cantonment residents who migrated did so due to the space crunch. Since the Cantonment Act restricts additional construction to existing structures, residents with expanding families found it difficult to stay in congested spaces and hence, migrated to nearby areas to meet their growing space needs. However, they have continued to remain connected with their roots and all of them have their names as registered voters in the cantonment area.”
{{/usCountry}}Local resident Amit More said, “The migration of the population is due to factors such as the search for higher standards of living in the absence of FSI for reconstruction of old buildings. Over the years, the PCB area has also lost some of its sheen due to the crumbling civic infrastructure, courtesy the lack of funds from the centre and state.”
With elections to the PCB being cancelled and its merger with the PMC imminent, the remaining residents too have lost their faith in the board and are looking for options to increase their earnings and end their hardships by way of migration.
Manjeet Virddi, a prominent businessman who owns a furniture shop in the cantonment area but stays in Wanawadi, said, “The residents have migrated and are migrating due to reasons such as better standards of living and good civic infrastructure in the nearby suburbs like Wanawadi, Hadapsar and other areas. Also, the civic infrastructure in the area has broken down completely and no efforts are being undertaken to boost it.”
That the PCB is facing its worst financial crisis is among the main reasons for citizens moving out of the cantonment area and new people moving in purely for commercial reasons. “There has been a phenomenal increase in commercialisation of residential real estate in the cantonment area and the gap between the two has reduced to such an extent that the future will see the camp becoming a commercial hub and not a residential area,” Virddi said.