Pune Municipal Corporation pushes for protective walls around nullahs, offers manpower

If a wall needs to be built urgently, the PMC will construct it and recover the cost of construction from the property owner or developer.

In not-so-urgent cases, the PMC will serve a notice to the society or the owner of the building, asking them to reconstruct the wall within a set time frame. “If the protective wall is not constructed within the given time frame, legal action will be initiated against the society or the owner of the building, and the civic sewage disposal department will undertake the construction work,” it said.

The civic department will figure out the estimated cost of constructing the protective wall and ask the society or the owner of the property to deposit the amount within 15 days. “The construction work should be started soon after the money is received from the housing society or the owner of the building. The work can also be undertaken if the society or owner gives in writing that the cost should be recovered along with the property tax…,” stated the PMC.

If the society or owner fail to deposit the amount, or pay it as part of property tax, the construction will be stopped. However, if construction of the wall is mandatory for safety reasons, the civic body will continue with the construction irrespective of the status of payment, said an official.

“The expenditure recovered for the project through property tax should be equally distributed among the bills of all apartments of the society or building,” it said. Construction of the protection wall should be done after marking the boundaries of nullahs as per the development plan.