Stop all construction activities in Pune for a few months: MP Supriya Sule to Maharashtra govt and PMC

पुणे महापालिका क्षेत्रात येणाऱ्या आपल्या बारामती लोकसभा मतदारसंघातील विविध प्रश्नाबाबत पुणे महापालिका आयुक्त विक्रम कुमार यांच्याशी चर्चा केली. यावेळी दुष्काळी परिस्थितीमुळे आगामी काळात पुणे महानगरपालिका क्षेत्रात पाण्याची टंचाई होण्याची शक्यता आहे. त्यामुळे महापालिकेने पाण्याचे… pic.twitter.com/fDg0qQenRA

— Supriya Sule (@supriya_sule) November 24, 2023

Sule said during the meeting, the PMC officials revealed the critical situation regarding the availability of the water. “During the meeting, the PMC provided a data regarding water for drinking, agriculture and livestock. The situation is critical and drought-like both in the city and in the rural areas. For the past one and half months, I have been requesting the government to put in place a plan regarding the use of water. If the government does not initiate any plan, we will have to hit the streets,” she said.

Pointing out the way the construction activity is booming in the city, Sule said, “Every week when I visit Pune city, I notice brisk construction activities everywhere. When the existing amenities, be it water, garbage or traffic, are inadequate for the population, why is the PMC sanctioning new constructions? Citizens are already battling with poor water supply, bad roads and lack of proper garbage disposal system and new constructions are only adding to the existing problem. We are really worried that in the future, there will be no water in Pune.”

Emphasising that the problem is “really serious”, Sule said, “I want to thank the PMC for acknowledging that the problem is really serious. And that’s why I want to request the state government to put a stop to all construction activities in Pune for a few months.”

Sule added, “I am not against development. But if you don’t plan properly for water, drainage, roads, garbage and no matter how much crores of money you pump in for setting up Metro services, the daily problems faced by the citizens will not be resolved.”

Sule said in 8-10 days, the Maharashtra government should review the situation in Pune. “The government needs to review the situation vis-a-vis availability of water and other basic amenities and initiate measures to tackle the situation.”

Warning of a gherao, Sule said, “If the state government does not take up the problem of pollution, water, garbage and other amenities, the NCP will gherao the PMC and will not allow any civic official to leave the headquarters. The situation is really serious. Even if I was in power, I would have said the same thing. Power for me does not mean moving in official vehicles. Power is an effective tool to bring about a good change in the life of the people.”

Stating that the quality of life in Pune has gone down, Sule targeted the PMC and said, “PMC had promised 24X7 water. What happened to that promise? Whenever I go to the field, people make one strong demand — We want water and it should be clean water. If we are spending crores on tanker water, then why is the water not available through our taps? The state government has crores to spend on Metro services, why don’t they spend crores to resolve citizens’ water woes?”