On Thursday, Rajya Sabha MP Medha Kulkarni updated the Guardian Minister Ajit Pawar on concerns about the threat to trees and the river because of the Riverfront Development Project (RFD). The commissioners of PMC and PCMC and Collector were present at the meeting. “We presented our queries about the project to the Guardian Minister and he said that he would think over this,” said Kulkarni. The MP had visited the Ram-Mula confluence last Thursday at the behest of environmentalists and citizens' groups and spent two-and-a-half hours there. Kulkarni, who belongs to the BJP, has insisted that the RFD should be carried out without harming nature. Across the city, many groups are opposing the methods in which the RFD is being implemented. While Kulkarni takes the struggle to the top, there is on-ground mobilisation to send a strong message against the RFD in Pune. On February 9, citizens and organisations under the umbrella of Pune River Revival organised a Chipko March under the tagline “Save Trees, Save Rivers”. It will start at the Kalmadi High School and culminate at the Ram Mula Confluence in Baner. “The reason for the march is that the RFD work from Wakad to Sangvi has started. Currently, the work is going on on the PCMC side. On the PMC side, thousands of trees, like the Indian willow, have been tagged. We will walk to the Ram-Mula confluence and hug the trees that have been tagged. That is why we are calling this the Chipko march. These are old-growth heritage trees, some of which are 100-200 years old,” says Prajakta Mahajan, a member of Pune River Revival. “We have been told that the trees have been marked for a survey, but what is the survey for? The survey is for the RFD that is going on and involves the construction of a promenade, among others,” she adds. She says that a letter will be sent to the Prime Minister's Office after the march. The aim of the march, she added, was not to oppose the RFD entirely but to convince civic bodies to implement it in an “eco-friendly, sustainable manner”. “Alternative designs for the project are already with the PMC,” she said. Mahajan said that they expect 2,000 participants, including from mohalla committees and housing complexes, especially those who have been affected by flooding. Meghna Bhandari, an architect in Balewadi, says she is a part of efforts to make more people in the area aware about the RFD. “What we see is that most people do not know about the RFD or how it could increase flooding in the area. The flooding in 2019, for instance, had forced Jupiter hospital to close and shift more than 100 patients,” she says.
