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Journalism of Courage
The State Congress Sunday alleged that besides the Pune Municipal Corporation and BJP which ruled the civic body for five years, the Maha Metro was also responsible for reducing the Mutha river’s capacity to carry water resulting in its overflowing after heavy rain.
“Due to the obstructions created by Metro bridge pillars and its other works, the water carrying capacity of the Mutha river has reduced drastically. And following the heavy rain last week, Mutha river came under pressure resulting in its overflowing,” Congress spokesperson Gopaldada Tiwari said in a press statement.
Maha Metro MD Shravan Hardikar, however, denied the allegations, “When objections were raised about the Metro work in riverbed we had filed our say before the National Green Tribunal… The matter was settled before the NGT,” he said.
Tiwari said, “Thousands of people live along the banks of Mutha river and in low lying areas for years… When we realised that Metro pillars had narrowed down the riverbed, we had raised our voice against it. We had taken up the issue with PMC which was told that people living along Mutha were at risk of floods as the rivers carrying capacity had reduced.”
Tiwari said that the PMC was requested to remove the debris and silt from Lakdi Pul to Omkareshwar in Mutha river bed. “We had also pointed out that the illegal constructions were taking place along the boundary wall built on the Mutha river,” he said.
“However, due to the deliberate neglect of the then ruling party (BJP) and the civic administration, today almost all the citizens living on the banks of the Mutha river in Pune city have sword of floods hanging over their heads,” Tiwari alleged.
“Under RTI, when information was sought from the civic officials, they gave the strange reason that removal of encroachments in the river bed is not the work of the PMC, but of the irrigation department,” he added.
“When we personally followed up with the then Irrigation Minister Jayant Patil and the irrigation department, they also sent letter to Pune Municipal Corporation. In it, the department has clearly stated that the work of removing encroachments in riverbed is under the jurisdiction of the civic body,” Tiwari claimed.
The Congress demanded action against officials responsible for the plight of the citizens.
