Civic administration yet to comply with SC order

PUNE: It has been a over month since the Supreme Court directed the civic body to remove rubble along the riverside road, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) is yet to comply with the order.
Though civic officials cited unavailability of suitable place to dispose of the debris, the activists said if prompt action is not taken, the rainy season might delay the removal process further.
The construction of the riverside road linking Vitthalwadi to National Highway 4 was stopped in the third week of February following the Supreme Court’s order. The SC had dismissed the PMC’s appeal against a National Green Tribunal (NGT) order, which had ruled that the civic body must attempt to realign the road or should construct it on elevated pillars.
The apex court had pointed out that there had been a delay of 478 days in filing the petition, for which the civic body had provided “no proper explanation”. The court also found the appeal “devoid of merit” and gave the PMC six-month time to clear the debris from the site.
“The time given to the PMC was of six months. However, monsoon might delay the work further. So, authorities have around two-and-a-half month time to comply with the apex court’s order,” said Sarang Yadwadkar, a petitioner in the case.
Yadwadkar, an environmental activist, said once the deadline is over in August 2015, civic administration is unlikely to get any extension to carry out the work. “If the PMC fails to complete the work in the given time frame, it might face contempt of court. Therefore, it’s high time that the administration starts the work without wasting anymore time,” he said.
Vivek Kharwadkar, head of the PMC’s road department, said the administration will take all the necessary steps to follow the court’s order. “We are searching for an appropriate place to dispose of the debris, and the work will begin soon after the place is identified,” he said.
The riverside road has remained in news due to various reasons. Citizens’ groups and elected members have been advocating the road, while another group has been opposing it. Those in favour of the road have contested that the road is needed to ease the traffic on Sinhagad Road, however others have raised environmental concerns on the project.
The PMC had proposed a flyover to reduce congestion on Sinhagad Road after the Supreme Court ordered it to stop work on the riverside road project. The civic standing committee, in its draft annual budget for 2015-16 presented at February end, has made a provision of Rs 1.5 crore for a flyover connecting Vitthal temple to Vadgaon Phata.