Express Town Hall: ‘GBS cases under control, drinking water 100% purified,’ says PCMC chief Shekhar Singh

The situation is under control. There are only a handful of patients undergoing treatment. After we learnt that the problem was created by water supplied through a well in Pune city, we realised that few private wells provide water to societies. Now, it is a fact that most societies do not use that water for drinking water. They use it for horticulture and other things….But when we started testing wells in the city to trace contamination, in one of the wells, the water was not contaminated from a biological point of view but there were a lot of leaves and it was not very clean. So, we put up a board that said no one should fill water from that well any longer…

Then we started disinfecting the wells, private ones like it is done in rural areas….

We got three patients from Parandevadi and Talegaon Dabhade, where we realised that they had a history of drinking water from jars. So, we also decided that whichever jar bottling plants are there in the city, we need to start keeping a tab on them as well. There are about 10 units that we could locate in the city.

Manoj More: After the GBS scare, have you reviewed the entire water supply system as there is speculation that drinking water supplied in Pimpri-Chinchwad is not 100 per cent purified?

If you mean that we are not 100 per cent purifying water at the water treatment plant, that is not correct. We are – both at Ravet and Chikhli. But I have no problem accepting that there are a few leakages in the lines. God forbid, if there is a drainage line or something like that which comes in close contact with the leakage area, issues might crop up. But to say that we are not treating water is absolutely incorrect.

Manoj More: What about the tanker supply?

Tanker supply is something that we do not control from a private supply point of view. But, with this GBS thing, it is probably coming to fore that we might have to intervene a bit as far as the disinfection of private wells are concerned.

Now, I am again repeating that the majority of societies do not use tanker water for drinking water. It is a fact. But, there might be some or very few cases where they might be doing it.

Partha Sarathi Biswas: During COVID, we had a war room. Obviously, the number of cases is not too high. But, given the ferocity of the disease, do you have any plans for starting one?

We already started a control room last Thursday. And, we have already declared a helpline number as well. We are putting a doctor on that helpline number. And we are also telling people that if you call the Sarthi helpline, it will redirect you. So, no need to really remember that number because people in PCMC largely know the Sarthi helpline numbers.

So, that command control centre, sort of a war room, is already operational. And, apart from that, for every zone, we have put in a doctor separately to tackle issues.

Anuradha Mascarenhas: Is there a cluster of GBS in Pimpri Chinchwad?

No, there is no cluster. So, one interesting aspect is that even last year, we had about 83 GBS cases. Throughout the year, there were patients admitted in our hospitals, both private and municipal.

Manoj More: The traffic congestion in Pimpri-Chinchwad is growing by the day. This has been happening for nearly 15 years. Do you accept that PCMC and the traffic police have failed to resolve this issue? And do you have a solution to ease citizens’ nightmares?

So, you have overstated the problem as far as the five-hour traffic jam is concerned. I was talking about 25 junctions where there is a problem… One of the junctions we have taken up is Nashik Phata. Something that complicates things in Nashik Phata is the signal.

Even today, I can close that signal and make the two lanes free for traffic movement on both sides. Motorists will have to take a U-turn from the Vallabhnagar subway if they intend to come to Kasarwadi from the Pune side which is not a big deal. What is stopping me from doing this is the pedestrian overbridge.

So, currently, Maha Metro had to implement a pedestrian overbridge connecting the Metro station with the Kasarwadi Metro station, on both sides of the highway. They are starting the work now. Once that bridge is completed, I think we can close the signal and a lot of that issue will get resolved.

Manoj More: Citizens and activists have been demanding that BRTS routes, at least on the Pune-Mumbai highway stretch, should be dismantled. What is your take?

There is no question of doing away with BRTS routes in the city. In fact, I feel BRTS routes should be further expanded and more buses should be purchased. We should do everything to encourage public transport and ensure that fewer private buses come on to the roads which will help us from decongesting our roads.

Anuradha: Post-Diwali, we reported that Pimpri Chinchwad was the top-most polluting city in Maharashtra. What action has been taken?

There are two kinds of areas in PCMC which are polluted – one where construction activity is underway and the second is the industrial area. We also have several illegal MSMEs operating in the city. We have started adopting stern measures to ensure that construction firms comply with norms regarding pollution. In the last one or two months, fines to the tune of Rs 45 to 50 lakh have been levied. Recently, we issued ‘stop work’ notices to five construction sites. And if they do not comply even after two violations, then there will be a total stop work for 30 days.

From a vehicular pollution point of view, I think it’s a bit of a longer battle. And it is one of the reasons why we went for GRAP [Graded Response Action Plan] this year. And it is still a work in progress. It will not happen immediately.

Anuradha: There is increasing concern about stray dogs in PCMC areas. Please comment.

The stray dog issue, again, is one that all cities are grappling with. We are trying to ramp up our sterilisation efforts. That also takes a hit because you need to keep a dog after sterilisation for five days…we have ramped up our kennels from about 89 two years ago to almost 240. They will get operationalised very soon. In the next two to three years, we can see the population stabilising.

Ajay Jadhav: Is there a need for a separate municipal corporation for Hinjewadi and surrounding areas as it has been talked about in political circles?

There is no talk of a separate municipal corporation from a Hinjewadi point of view. The proposal of villages in the surrounding area has always been to merge with PCMC. The new proposal is bringing villages beyond the Indrayani river – Talegaon, Alandi, Chakan – together as a new municipal corporation. So the government is probably considering that. One thing is for sure, the sooner that the peri-urban areas come under the purview of a municipal corporation, the better it is.

Ajay Jadhav: The Metro network is being expanded in Pune city. Why is the same not being done in PCMC if it wants to promote public transport?

There is a plan to expand the Metro network and connect the two lines. It will pass through Ravet and cross the old Mumbai-Pune highway. Actually, Maha Metro is working on creating a loop of Metro lines for Pune and PCMC so there will be expansion in PCMC as well.

Sushant Kulkarni: PCMC interacts with several defence entities, which include sensitive Army formations and ordnance establishments. There is a frictional past as far as roads, land and access are concerned. How does PCMC resolve these issues?

I feel that things are much more streamlined as compared to the past with regard to the processes. For example, when it comes to the defence lands, there is an online system. We have got land for Suvidha Park in Bhosari, for a road in Pimple Saudagar. We are now applying for land for three fire stations – one at CME, one near Aundh Military Station and one in the Sangvi area. But we are very mindful of the fact that Army and defence establishments are of prime importance nationally and that the Southern Command is strategically very significant.

Soham Shah: The Maharashtra transport commissioner has recently talked about a policy that will require people to give proof of parking space before buying vehicles in the state.

The honourable CM has already made his stand clear. He said that going forward to attack the problem of traffic congestion, that is one of the things that the state is probably going to take a view on. I would not want to say anything further.

Of course, it is a stand that we will have to take at some point of time. Cities globally from Singapore to Japan, Tokyo etc. have already taken those stands. The only thing that we will have to be a little bit mindful of is buffering it with a very, very robust public transport, especially from a buses point of view.

There is also a related thing about last mile connectivity and first mile connectivity, and buses being available and trips being available.

Soham Shah: New York recently brought in congestion pricing. How far do you think we are from such policies?

Not very far.

Anuradha Mascarenhas: Will people pay?

I remember when I came to the cadre in 2013-14, there was a lot of hullabaloo about tolls on the highways. In Kolhapur, if you remember, there was a huge issue. People no longer say anything like that. People are okay with paying the toll, they have got used to it. They will pay.

Shubham Tigga: What about the Comprehensive Mobility Plan? What can we see from the PCMC side?

The 30-year plan is the development plan (DP). So, that day to Deputy CM sir, we presented the five dimensions to resolve the traffic congestion.

First aspect was new DP roads, so 38 new DP roads for almost 61 km were initiated last year, amounting to almost Rs 700-odd crore. These are the alternate routes to decongest the main roads. Kate Wasti Road in Punawale, which has been one of the major demands of the people, is only a 9 m road, whereas in DP it is 24 m, so now we are going for full development from 9 m to 24 m.

The Satara highway is one of the major pain points for the city…Hinjewadi, Wakad, that entire stretch. What is now happening is that the main carriageway of the NHAI [National Highways Authority of India], they had a 12 x 12 m service road on both sides. PCMC in the past had already kept another 12 x 12 m service road outside the NHAI limits.

Over the past one-and-a-half years, we have been able to get possession of 95 per cent of that land and NHAI has recently issued a tender for creating this four lane on both sides of the main highway. Once that happens in the next one year, I think a lot of this congestion problem from the Satara highway point of view will get resolved.

The second most important strategy is to understand the missing links. So, from a land acquisition or from a budgeting point of view, we have taken almost 22 of those missing links. It is only about 11 km.

Thirdly, we have collaborated with Pimpri Chinchwad Police Commissionerate (PCPC) and have tried to identify 25 junctions in the city based on Google and TomTom data, which shows that these are the top congested intersections or stretches in the city. And we are going ahead now on multiple strategies.

The fourth is with regard to removing encroachments.

And finally, we are focusing more on the public transport part, which is a bit of a slow mover.