Pune: Balewadi Residents Protest Over Non Functional Vegetable Market Built Under Smart City Project
Pune: Balewadi Residents Protest Over Non Functional Vegetable Market Built Under Smart City Project
Balewadi, October 31, 2025: Despite spending nearly ₹1 crore under the Smart City initiative, the vegetable market constructed at Sai Chowk, Balewadi, has not yet been opened for public use. This delay has caused significant inconvenience to local residents, street vendors, and licensed vegetable sellers in the area.
To protest this situation, members of the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar faction) and the Jayesh Murkute Social Foundation organised a demonstration demanding the immediate opening of the market.
During the protest, the participants criticised the city’s administration, stating, “Instead of turning Pune into a Smart City, the ruling authorities have turned it into a Scrap City. Spending crores on facilities and leaving them unused is an insult to taxpayers.”
As part of the protest, symbolic vegetable sales were carried out near the market premises, along with slogans against the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). Protesters put forth several demands:
The immediate opening of the Sai Chowk vegetable market for public use.
Allocation of stalls to licensed and local vegetable vendors.
Proper sanitation and security arrangements, as the unused space is reportedly being misused by drunkards.
Protesters also warned that if the Balewadi market and the pending markets at Baner and Sutarwadi are not opened soon, a larger agitation will be launched, holding the PMC fully responsible.
The protest saw strong participation from NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) leaders, Maha Vikas Aghadi members, and residents from nearby areas.
