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Kilometre-long stretch of Katraj, Bopdev ghats turn into garbage dumping ground
Residents claim waste is dumped by people living in surrounding gram panchayats.
People entering Pune via Katraj and Bopdev ghat are greeted with piles of garbage on the roadside. At least a kilometre stretch of the ghat sections are filled with trash, which residents say is due to the dumping of the garbage from the surrounding gram panchayats.
Katraj and Bopdev ghats serve as the entry points for Pune city and Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) jurisdiction begins there. Solid waste management department head of the PMC, Dnyaneshwar Molak said, “Both the ghat sections do not come under the municipal corporation’s jurisdiction. However, the garbage pile-up is bad and both the spots serve as entry points to the city. We will write a letter to the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) and Pune Zilla Parishad and request them to clean the area.”
PMRDA officials were not available for comment despite repeated requests, however, officials on the condition of anonymity, said, “We do not have any mechanism for garbage management. Local villages are managing their own garbage.”
Molak said, “Residents of surrounding gram panchayats have been seen throwing garbage either in municipal corporation areas or near the boundaries. We have the machinery and can remove it, but the authorities responsible for cleaning it up claim that they do not have machinery and request us to remove the garbage. It is better that they manage their own garbage.”
Sachin Konde, a resident of Khed Shivapur, said, “We have been using the old Katraj ghat section daily for our commute and we never saw garbage there. When the Covid restrictions were relaxed, I was shocked to see heaps of garbage in the ghat section. People from western Maharashtra mainly Sangli, Satara and Kolhapur, use this route and it is a wrong indication we are giving to our visitors.”
Ranjit Diwan who stays at Khadi Machine chowk, said,“We used to travel by the Bopdev ghat almost every week. People use the ghat to get to Baramati, Jejuri and Saswad. Currently, we can see loads of trash on both sides of the road. It needs to be cleaned immediately as it gives off a foul smell as well.”
