Pune Activists Call for Clearing Illegal Encroachments in Biodiversity Park Zone

Pune : Vandana Chavan, a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha, along with other environmental activists, held a meeting with Pune’s Municipal Commissioner, Vikram Kumar, to advocate for the removal of encroachments within the city’s biodiversity park (BDP) zone. 

During the meeting, Chavan, green activist Aneeta Gokhale-Benninger, and Nitin Kadam, the head of the Nationalist Congress Party’s (NCP) urban cell, discussed various issues related to the BDP zone with Kumar and City Engineer Prashant Waghmare.

The activists presented a series of demands aimed at safeguarding the BDP zone. Their requests include the identification of areas within the BDP reservation that are owned by the government, as well as a comprehensive inventory detailing ownership by private individuals. 

They urged the authorities to develop government-owned land within the BDP zone to preserve its green spaces until the acquisition and compensation issues related to privately owned land are resolved.

Chavan emphasized, “We have requested the civic chief to arrange for high-resolution satellite images to gain a better understanding of the current status of the BDP zone. Additionally, we have urged the authorities to officially record the BDP reservation on the 7/12 land extract to prevent illegal property sales.”

She further stated, “The Jain committee had previously proposed offering green Transferable Development Rights (TDR) as compensation to private landowners, but both the state government and the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) have not implemented this recommendation. Therefore, we call upon the administration to take immediate action to acquire land within the reserved area.”