Hope for Ganeshkhind Road trees as civic body agrees to review citizens’ alternative plan

“We had a good discussion. Our executive engineers and superintendent engineers are taking a look at the alternative plan prepared by Parisar. Our consultants are checking the details of the plan on the ground. Our effort is to ensure that as few trees as possible are destroyed for the widening of Ganeshkhind Road,” said Bankar.

According to Aditya Chawande, architect and urban designer with Parisar, who prepared the alternative plan, the new design addresses several ground realities. “The side pillars of the metro stations are at 12meters within the existing 36-metre-wide road as per the old development plan. If the PMC widens the road to 45 metres, these pillars will still remain where they are. So vehicles will continue to move within these 12 metres. PMC’s plan for 45 metres is not aligned with ground realities or Metro station plans. Further road widening will not only lead to tree felling but also create bottlenecks at at least three places within short distances, causing traffic congestion. This can be avoided with the Urban Street Design approach,” said Chawande.

He added that the alternative plan is aligned with the specifications of the statutory IRC Code (Indian Roads Congress Codes) and Pune Urban Street Design Guidelines, “which mandate the creation of a consistent motor carriageway according to lane widths while avoiding zig-zag and inconsistency for efficient traffic movement”. The new plan includes provisions for Non-Motorised Transport (NMT) Zones with Multi-Utility Zones, which can include cycle tracks, footpaths shaded by trees, ramps and bus drop-off zones, among others. “If you limit the motor carriageways to Metro station side pillars at 12 metres, and slip lanes to 7 metres wide at flyovers, whatever is left is for the NMT zone. This street design approach will save all the existing trees while streamlining the traffic movement,” he said.

A long fight

“This is the right time for people to understand the importance of trees because Pune is heating up until it is unbearable. The green cover is important because Pune’s air quality is deteriorating by the day. Greenery is absolutely important in cities today, and we have to save it in Pune,” said Vandana Chavan, former mayor of Pune and former member of the Rajya Sabha. Chavan was part of the delegation that met Bankar.

After the PMC listed 529 trees for felling for the second phase in a docket published in March this year, there was backlash from a large number of citizens. By April 23, the last date for people to object to the plan, there were more than 7,000 signatures against tree felling. On May 1, around 200 people joined hands on Ganeshkhind Road to form a human chain. Many citizens also conducted a tree-mapping exercise on the stretch.

In 2024, the PMC was permitted to remove trees on Ganeshkhind Road for the construction of a flyover. Among the conditions were that trees had to be transplanted rather than cut, and that compensatory plantation of 5,000 trees had to be carried out, with a 95 per cent survival rate to be assured by the PMC.

The dispute between the civic body and citizens’ groups over the trees on Ganeshkhind Road had resulted in them taking the PMC to the Bombay High Court, the National Green Tribunal and the Supreme Court. Following the meeting with Rajesh Bankar, they now see the possibility of a resolution.