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To address the rising air pollution in Pune, city-based NGO, Parisar, has urged Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) to implement a time-bound plan to ensure that each ward has at least one gas or electric cremation facility, while also promoting the use of environment-friendly cremation facilities and bringing a check on the burning of waste.
Parisar representative Shweta Vernekar, on behalf of the Pune Air Action Hub, said the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) should support its ongoing activity of distribution of information pamphlets at hospitals and pass centres, while giving the death pass containing details of the locations of electric and gas crematoria in each ward.
“Work on a time-bound plan to ensure that each ward in Pune has at least one gas or electric cremation facility, with a long-term plan of having more of these facilities in general,” she said.
As waste burning creates pollution, Vernekar said the issue has been flagged by the hub repeatedly. A joint meeting with the civic Solid Waste Management Department and Environment Department to address the waste dumping and burning issue has been planned, while the PMC has taken up mapping of garbage vulnerable spots to monitor and reduce dumping and burning through focused interventions,” she said.
Vernekar has urged PMC to issue a circular to all housing societies to arrange an electric heater for their security guards, along with other measures such as providing warm clothes and a cabin to ensure that they do not burn bonfires to keep themselves warm during winter.
“The SWM Department vehicles are supposed to collect this ‘garden waste’ free of charge on a particular day every week, but this system doesn’t seem to be working efficiently as of now,” Vernekar pointed out.
“Pune has so far invested in mist fountains, fog cannons, and mechanised sweeping machines. However, a proper scientific assessment of the amount of pollution reduced and the period for which it stays low is not seen, considering these are all solutions that do not directly work on the source of pollution, she added.
Vernekar emphasised the inclusion of ward-wise tree cutting information in the Environmental Sustainability Report (ESR) and that tree cutting data be recorded and published in a way that makes intelligent analysis possible. It is high time that these crucial records are digitised to facilitate understanding of trends and take required action promptly, she said.
Prioritising the implementation of the Pune Bicycle Plan, increasing Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) fleet to the required 6,000 buses as per the revised Comprehensive Mobility Plan of Pune, and implementing the Parking Policy of Pune.
