Pune: Five societies on Salunke Vihar road threaten to boycott Lok Sabha elections over impending civic issues

Residents of societies from Borade Nagar on Salunke Vihar road write a letter to the district collector of Pune briefing him about their issues.

4 May 2024

By Sukhmani Kooner 

Residents of Nancy Garden Co-op Housing Society, Rashmi Industrial Society, Kumar Gulmohar Society, Green Wood Society and Gulmohar Habitat society phase 1, of Borade Nagar, have written a letter to the District Collector of Pune, Dr. Suhas Diwase, on their intention to boycott the upcoming elections. Residents such as Mr. Arnold Lobo said that since their complaints were not resolved and have been neglected for too long, there is no point in contesting the elections. 

In conversation with Arnold Lobo, he said, “The Municipal Corporation workers do not clean up the garbage and it keeps on piling up. The slaughtering house nearby dumps its waste in the naala that passes at the backside of our society. The smell is intolerable and the garbage that keeps accumulating is causing major problems to us.” 

Shivaji Shinde, a resident of local society complained that the residents have been writing to the Pune Municipal Corporation, Pune Cantonment Board, Maharashtra Pollution Control Board about the nala water being contaminated and has been neglected for too long.

In their letter, the residents have written that for the past 15 years the sanitation staff from the municipal corporation have not been coming to clean the roads. They mention that due to the blood and meat waste coming from the slaughterhouse and mixing with the drainage line, the stench is unbearable. 

Water tankers are also a cause of concern for the members of these societies as they mention that the water mafia has ruled their roads. Ashok Dattu Gaikwad, a resident of Nancy Garden Society, said, “The water tankers are present on the roads all day and because of the bad condition of the road, there is mud all around and a lot of people have been injured because of it.” 

In the letter, the residents allege that Harish Borade, who resides in the Salunkhe Vihar area, has encroached upon the main road under the Pune Municipal Corporation. Due to this encroachment on the main road, water tankers are parked and are causing obstruction. The tanker drivers are drunk and some of them do not even have licences. It is a pressing concern for the residents. The letter has also been marked to the PMC Commissioner seeking their help in cleaning the nala, stopping contamination from slaughterhouse, cleaning footpath and maintaining the quality of the road which is often in poor quality due to continuous plying of water tankers.