Ensure Safety Measures For Pune Hills: Higher And Technical Education Minister Chandrakant Patil’s Directives

Ensure Safety Measures For Pune Hills: Higher And Technical Education Minister Chandrakant Patil's Directives
Pune, January 13, 2025 : Pune city, home to 17 hills, requires robust safety measures to prevent frequent fires. Higher and Technical Education Minister Chandrakant Patil has urged the administration and municipal corporation to implement protective steps in collaboration with citizens, promising funds for the same. He also directed action against unauthorized constructions on the hills and announced a meeting with municipal commissioners on January 23 to address related issues.

At a review meeting held at Van Bhavan regarding hill safety, Minister Patil specifically reviewed measures taken after three fire incidents on Kothrud’s Mhatoba Hill. Present at the meeting were Deputy Conservator of Forests Mahadev Mohite, Police Deputy Commissioner Sambhaji Kadam, Divisional Forest Officer Snehal Patil, Assistant Forest Conservator Deepak Pawar, PMC Deputy Commissioner Avinash Sapkal, and local citizens.
Patil highlighted the destruction of approximately 2,500 trees out of 6,500 planted on Mhatoba Hill due to deliberate fires and called for stringent preventive measures. He instructed the forest department to ensure proper growth of trees by removing weeds and constructing protective walls swiftly. Other measures include:
– Installing high-capacity solar-powered CCTV cameras for monitoring.
– Increasing security personnel from 2 to 8 and equipping them with motorbikes and solar lights.
– Allocating funds for patrol activities and maintenance.
Deputy Conservator Mohite provided updates on safety measures and recommended a meeting with municipal commissioners to address certain issues falling under PMC jurisdiction.