PMC’s Concrete Curse: How Pune’s Green Legacy is Being Buried Alive

𝐹𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑉𝑒𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑇𝑒𝑘𝑑𝑖 T𝑜 𝑅𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑏𝑎𝑛𝑘𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑃𝑀𝐶’𝑠 𝑅𝑢𝑡ℎ𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝐷𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝐴𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑎 𝐿𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑠 A 𝑇𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑙 O𝑓 𝐸𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝐶𝑎𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑔𝑒. 

𝗩𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝗲𝗸𝗱𝗶: 

A Green Lung being Slaughtered in Broad Daylight  

The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has declared war on Vetal Tekdi, a sacred hillock that has stood as Pune’s ecological sentinel for centuries. Ignoring the deafening cries of environmentalists and citizens, the PMC is bulldozing ahead with a road project that will carve through the heart of this biodiversity hotspot. Experts condemn the move as “ecological homicide”—a calculated strike against Pune’s last remaining green lung, all to cater to unchecked urbanization. The hill’s ancient trees, home to endangered species and a critical buffer against the city’s toxic air, are now marked for execution. “This isn’t development—it’s a death warrant,” spat a veteran botanist, whose pleas to the PMC were met with silence.  

𝗥𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘁 𝗥𝘂𝗶𝗻: 

A ₹4,727 Crore Boondoggle Drowning Pune in Concrete  

The PMC’s Mula-Mutha Riverfront Development—a pet project of architect Bimal Patel—is a grotesque parody of Ahmedabad’s Sabarmati model. Promising “rejuvenation,” the PMC has instead unleashed a concrete juggernaut, entombing riverbanks in promenades and luxury plots while quietly revising floodlines to shrink the river’s course. The result? A ticking time bomb for catastrophic floods, as seen in 2019 when PMC’s earlier encroachments turned Aundh and Baner into swamps. Meanwhile, the corporation has stealthily sought permission to axe 6,000+ trees along the riverbanks, despite publicly swearing “not a single tree will be cut.” “They’re gaslighting Pune into ecological oblivion,” fumed a Pune based Economist Ameet Singh.

𝗚𝗮𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗵𝗸𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗕𝗼𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗚𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗻 – 𝗔 𝗕𝗶𝗼𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗦𝗶𝘁𝗲:

From Biodiversity Haven to Sewage Graveyard  

The Ganeshkhind Biodiversity Heritage Park, once a thriving oasis, now reeks of betrayal. The PMC has greenlit a sewage treatment plant (STP) on its grounds, reducing a sanctuary for rare flora and fauna into a dumping ground for bureaucratic apathy. “This is how you murder a city’s soul,” seethed a conservationist, noting how the STP’s toxic footprint will poison groundwater and sterilize soil. Across Pune, playgrounds and gardens—legally reserved for public welfare—are being auctioned to contractors, their green canopies replaced by the gray pallor of PMPML depots and parking lots.  

𝗠𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗵𝘄𝗮 𝗖𝗵𝗼𝘄𝗸: 

A Monument to PMC’s Lethal Incompetence  

In Mundhwa Chowk, the PMC’s wrecking balls left a half-demolished structure dangling over pedestrians—a jagged metaphor for its governance. When citizens demanded answers, the PMC shrugged. “Accidents happen,” quipped an official, as children dodged falling debris on their way to school. This reckless abandon extends citywide: roads widened into traffic nightmares, sewage lakes festering in public parks, and air quality plummeting to “moderate” (a euphemism for “slow death”).  

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘃𝘀. 𝗣𝗠𝗖:

A City’s Last Stand  

Punekars are rising from the ashes of apathy. Social media explodes with fury: #PMCBetrayal trends as citizens share maps of vanished gardens and videos of dying rivers. The 2023 Chipko Andolan, which saved 1,000 trees, now fuels a fiercer resistance. Lawyers, students, and grandmothers pack courtrooms, filing PILs to halt the Law College Hill Road—a project that would raze a 50-year-old forest. “PMC thinks we’ll forget. We won’t,” vowed a protester, her hands still stained with tree sap from the last sit-in.  

𝗣𝘂𝗻𝗲’𝘀 𝗘𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗽𝗵, 𝗪𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗲  

The PMC’s legacy is etched in the scars of Vetal Tekdi, the stench of Ganeshkhind, and the silent screams of buried rivers. Each bulldozer, each chainsaw, each lie cements Pune’s fate as a cautionary tale of greed over life. The clock ticks—toward a future where children gasp for air in treeless playgrounds, where monsoon rains drown neighborhoods in PMC’s concrete chokehold. The question isn’t if Pune will fight back, but how many more must die before the PMC’s machinery grinds to a halt.  

 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝗦𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗣𝘂𝗻𝗲’𝘀 𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗟𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗰𝘆  

• 1. Join Protests & Campaigns – Support movements like Chipko Andolan, form human chains, and resist destructive projects.  
• 2. Use Legal Tools – File RTIs and PILs to expose illegal tree-cutting and environmental violations.  
• 3. Hold PMC Accountable – Flood officials with calls, emails, and petitions demanding transparency.  
• 4. Expose Violations – Document and share evidence of environmental destruction on social media.  
• 5. Boycott Harmful Projects – Avoid businesses profiting from riverfront commercialization and ecological damage.  
• 6. Plant & Protect Trees – Organize tree-planting drives and monitor survival rates.  
• 7. Push for Stronger Laws – Demand stricter environmental regulations and independent audits.  
• 8. Create Awareness – Use art, media, and activism to highlight PMC’s failures.  

𝑨𝒄𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒘—𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝑷𝒖𝒏𝒆’𝒔 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒍𝒖𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓.