Journalism of Courage
An area witnessing a lot of development,more so post 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games,has been under the scanner for promised development works not being completed and the real estate lobby encroaching on the Ramnadi. The area has been on the priority list of the real estate sector while crime rate too has been fairly high in the area.
The Bombay High Court order to stop concretisation work of the central course of the Devnadi in Baner has been welcomed by all,but citizens groups are worried about Ramnadi now. The flash floods of September in Ramnadi is a nightmare residents of the area find tough to forget.
Citizens who went on a hunger strike feel the civic body has been casual in their approach. Indu Gupta of Sai Kamal Society,which was inundated in the flash flood,and who had to face losses to the tune of Rs 12-13 lakh,says even after the civic body officers promised to put up a list of encroachments on website nothing has been done. Our society faced around Rs 2.5 crore losses with 31 cars being washed away. We sent many letters to the authorities but there has been no response. We finally got the support of Jalbiradari and we went on a hunger strike to put up our point, says Gupta,a member of the Bavdhan Area Sabha. She says developers have huge projects on Ramnadi and have built huge walls which in turn risk adjacent housing societies on the river banks. Gupta says there has to be stringent measures to control encroachment.
Activist Anupam Saraf says even after RTI activist Vijay Kumbhar had given a list of 38 encroachments on the Ramnadi,the civic body has not looked into the issue.
Nullahs should be demarcated,encroachments removed and checks kept on release of sewage into natural streams. It is essential to revive natural streams and save Punes natural resources, says Saraf. While Suneel Joshi,state coordinator of Jalbiradari,says the civic body might give an excuse of the absence of a civic chief at present,but no action plan has been laid out for the Ramnadi in the last six to seven months. Even after encroachments were pointed out,no action has been taken, he says.
A committee to assess the situation of Ramnadi has still not been formed,he says. Devnadi,Ramnadi,Pavana,Mula and Mutha are the lifelines of the city. Constructions and river channelisation are choking the natural streams,says the activist.
