PMC’s draft plan may hit education terrain

The plan is proposed in the civic body’s draft Development Plan for the old city limits. The other educational institutes that will be affected if PMC went ahead with its plan are Tilak College of Education,NG Naralkar Institute of Career Development and Research and NMV Pre-primary. In fact,several other establishments that have come up around these institutes may also have to bear the brunt of the road-widening plan.

Shikshan Prasarak Mandali,which is a private educational institution having colleges and schools running under it,has opposed the proposed move by means of an objection letter addressed to the civic body. Besides,the proposed road-widening has also drawn much criticism from the academic circles in the city.

Speaking to Newsline,Chief Executive Officer of the educational body Sujit Mangalorkar said it is difficult to figure out the exact portion of land that each of the affected institutes could lose since plans and maps uploaded by PMC on its website are “distorted”.

“We have filed our objection with the civic body over the road widening plan on April 26. We will prefer to wait till PMC comes out with final development plan,” he said.

Located off Bajirao Road,Tilak Road and on busy streets of Shaniwar Peth among other nearby areas,the educational institutes are considered to be the preferred choice for parents to send their children to study.

Speaking on the issue,educationist Dr AL Deshmukh pointed out that Pune is known as an educational hub. Old educational organisations like Shikshan Prasarak Mandali are keeping this identity intact. The civic body must patronise it,instead of trying to harm it,he opined.

“The contribution of each of the constituents of Shikshan Prasarak Mandali towards education is immense. The society at large should come forward to stop any plan that proves detrimental to any such organisation,” he said.

Actor Rahul Solapurkar,an alumnus of both SP College and NMV High School and Junior College,said his alma mater and other likely-to-be-affected institutes are “the pride of Pune and should not be subjected to any structural changes”.

“The historic Lady Ramabai Hall at SP College or for that matter the monumental building of NMV High School are the heritage of Pune. The proposed road-widening poses a big threat to these institutes. We cannot have development at the cost of ruining these landmarks,” he said.

Veda Zingade,a parent,said the proposed road-widening would jeopardize the safety of students.

In spite of repeated attempts,PMC’s city engineer Prashant Waghmare was not available for comments. The draft Development Plan for the old PMC limit is in the public domain till June 27 for public suggestions or objections.