Pune: Residents come out in numbers to protest against river-front development project

Representatives of various political parties including the Congress, the NCP, the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the AAP participated in the protest.

The police ensured that the two-km-long protest march did not create any traffic problems in the city.

The NGOs and environment experts participating in Saturday’s march said they have decided to continue their protest until the demand of not felling trees is accepted by the authorities.

“Over 60 organisations mainly working in the environment and social sectors have extended support to us. We have launched a signature campaign to protest against the RFD project. We will compile it and submit it to the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC),” said Shailaja Deshpande of Jeevitnadi.

“Today’s protest is to show the PMC that there is opposition to the project that is harming the environment,” she added.

“The civic body cannot take citizens for granted and put their future in danger. The increased participation of citizens shows the concern of the public,” Deshpande further said.

Earlier this week, 11 environment experts returned the ‘Paryavaran Doot’ award of the PMC in protest against the RFD project and the proposed road on Vetal Tekdi. These include Padma Shri awardee and former member of the National Security Advisory Board Amitav Mallik, who is a member of the Pune International Centre (PIC) and founding convener of Climate Collective Pune (CCP); as well as Gurudas Nulkar, professor and director of the Centre for Sustainable Development at the Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics.

On March 31, the PMC honoured citizens working for the cause of the environment by conferring them the Paryavaran Doot award under the Majhi Vasundhara campaign of the Maharashtra government.

Actor Sayaji Shinde also extended his support to efforts to save trees and urged the PMC to hold discussions with environmental experts to work out a solution.

The RFD project includes the development of a 44.4-km river stretch – 22.2 km along the Mula river, 10.4 km along the Mutha river and 11.8 km along the Mula-Mutha river. The project is divided into multiple stretches and work has begun on two stretches.

The project has been designed along the lines of the Sabarmati Riverfront in Gujarat and its foundation stone was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in March last year. However, it was challenged in court, delaying implementation.