Pune News: Manjari, Keshav Nagar Water Hyacinth Crisis: Residents Slam PMC For Inaction
Pune News: Manjari, Keshav Nagar Water Hyacinth Crisis: Residents Slam PMC For Inaction
Despite years of complaints and significant expenditure, Pune’s battle with water hyacinth continues unabated. The latest hotspot: Manjari, where unchecked growth of hyacinth in the Mula River has triggered a mosquito menace and sparked public outrage against the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC).
Residents accuse the civic body of failing to take lasting action, despite similar protests erupting earlier in Kharadi. There, hyacinth was eventually cleared after massive public pressure and financial input. But instead of a comprehensive cleanup, critics say the PMC has merely shifted the problem downstream—now burdening Manjari with the same health hazards and environmental degradation.
A dam constructed for river purification, along with ongoing bridge works in Kharadi, have caused hyacinth to accumulate along a three-kilometre stretch of the river. As it spreads downstream through Mundhwa, Keshav Nagar, and into Manjari, mosquito populations have exploded—especially in slum settlements like Malwadi, Kunjir Vasti, Vetal Vasti, Rajiv Gandhi Nagar, Satwai Nagar, 116 Gharkul, and 72 Gharakul.
Local residents have renewed their calls for immediate fumigation and thorough cleaning of the riverbanks to prevent disease outbreaks.
Environmental experts agree that the current method of simply displacing the hyacinth is unsustainable.
As frustration mounts, Manjari residents continue to demand a permanent solution—not a patchwork fix that burdens one locality after another.
