With hills alive with sounds of construction, Kondhwa becomes another concrete jungle

“When we came here in 2006, the area was full of hills and greenery. Now, several hills have been broken down by builders or for roads, almost all slopes are occupied. There used to be many hillocks in this entire area. They have all become bungalows now,” said Satyawati Mani.

Her husband, also a scientist and retired director at the Defence Institute of Advanced Technology, added, “There are buildings everywhere you look, accident-prone roads, poor drainage, lack of pavements, frequent traffic jams, garbage problems and just overall bad planning. Whatever we came here for, is gone.”

Ever since these issues started becoming apparent in the late 2000s, the Manis became actively involved with the NIBM Road Residents Forum (NRRF), which was the mohalla committee of the area, both of them serving as president and active members until a few years ago when their health became more demanding. Satyawati Mani attends the forum’s meetings even now although the focus is more on civic issues and social engagement now.

As far as the hills are concerned, there is mostly despondence among the residents who have lived in the area for a long time.

“My morning walks used to be on those hills and back then there were many bird species including peacocks, hares and deer in the area,” said Sushil Kumar, now 76, who lived in the area from 2001 to 2015. Former secretary of NRRF, Kumar said, “When the destruction of the area started in 2007 onwards, NRRF made a detailed report of the expected environmental disaster, climate change and degradation of flora and fauna. Despite verbal assurances, not much action was taken on the ground and the result is for all to see.”

Over the years, NRRF made several representations to builders and the Pune Municipal Corporation urging the safeguard of hilltops, hill slopes and reserved forest areas from encroachment. Yogendra Gupta, 64 who was joint secretary of NRRF at the time said, “For an entire month, we were able to stop some constructions on the hill slopes. In 2013, the Chief Engineer of PMC visited the site with regard to some constructions and promised some action. However, the government officials changed and as time passed, the constructions picked up at such pace that it was impossible to stop.”

The law mandates that no construction be done on the Bio Diversity Park (BDP) zones in the city, except for agriculture, horticulture or forestry purposes. This often covers hill tops. A substantial part of the hill slopes which fall under PMC land are privately owned. However, no hill slope with a gradient of 1:5 or greater can be cut, confirmed Mayur Ingale, Junior Engineer from the PMC. He said, “We survey the land and only approve of buildings which can be constructed on privately owned hill slope areas without damaging the slope itself.” However, violations of this have been rampant.

In February this year, PMC wrote to the collector urging action against illegal constructions and use of land on Mahatma Tekdi, one of the last surviving hills in the Warje hill complex.

In March 2023, a hill in Jijai Nagar’s BDP zone was dug up by builders and stopped only a month later in response to a complaint by environmental activists to the Pune Municipal Commissioner. In 2021, a committee formed by the National Green Tribunal found that some trucks of PMC and Maha-Metro had dumped construction waste in BDP zones on the hills in the Bavdhan area (Dhotre v/s Environmental Department, Maharashtra). During the pandemic, over 150 illegal houses were constructed after levelling and selling off parts of Sutardara hillock in Kothrud area.

“Whatever had to be done in this area is mostly done but we need to actively prevent this in other areas of Pune,” urged Gupta. “With hill slopes being cut or occupied, the tree cover reduces and that increases the risk of flooding because the main functions of the hill are tree line and water retention. It is not just a question of the environment but also of liveable infrastructure. A solid system of checks and balances is needed to ensure that unauthorised constructions do not take place and if they take place, appropriate corrective measures should be taken.”

Ingale said, “If there is still a violation of the rules, then apart from fines and punitive action, the Roads department, Drainage department and Buildings department can take appropriate remedial measures like retention walls to prevent water run-off and flooding, levelling of roads and so on.”