Pune: PMC’s Environment Report 2025 Reveals Power Usage Doubled, Air Quality Declined, Waste Increased

Pune: Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has released its Environmental Status Report (ESR) for 2024–25, presenting a mixed picture of the city’s environmental performance. While the city has witnessed a doubling of solar energy usage, an increase in green spaces, and higher bird diversity, concerns remain over rising electricity consumption, growing waste, and deteriorating air quality.

The report was tabled and approved by PMC Administrator and Commissioner Naval Kishore Ram at the general body meeting, complying with the Maharashtra Municipal Corporations Act requirement to publish the ESR by July 31 each year.

Energy Consumption Doubles, Solar Capacity Surges

• Total electricity usage: 72,99,888 kilowatts (kW), up significantly from previous years.
• Residential usage: 54,44,847 kW.
• Solar energy adoption: Installed capacity jumped from 79,618 kW (2023–24) to 1,66,513 kW (2024–25).
• New installations: 50,097 kW solar panels added this year.
• Residential buildings contributed 61% of total solar capacity.
• Water heater users: rose from 72,821 to 95,707.

More Green Cover, Parks, and Biodiversity

• Tree count: Increased from 55.81 lakh to 57.81 lakh.
• Garden area: Expanded from 19.78 lakh sq.m to 24.96 lakh sq.m.
• Number of gardens: Rose from 211 to 224.
• City area under PMC: now 480 sq.km, down from 519 sq.km due to recalibration.
• Bird species count (Ebird.org):
  • Vetal Tekdi: 263 → 264
  • Kavdipat: 236 → 240
  • Pashan: 253 → 275

Air Quality Worsens, More “Bad Air” Days

• Good AQI days: Dropped from 79 (2023–24) to 52 (2024–25).
• Satisfactory days: 137
• Moderate AQI days: 174
• Poor air days: Increased from 1 to 3
• Very poor air days: 0

Waste Generation & Processing On the Rise

• Daily waste generation:
  • 2023–24: 2100–2200 tonnes
  • 2024–25: 2300–2400 tonnes
• Dry waste: 1350–1400 tonnes/day
• Wet waste: 950–1000 tonnes/day
• Processing capacity:
  • 13 projects process 1440 tonnes of dry waste
  • 6 projects process 1105 tonnes of wet waste
• Biomining:
  • Phase 1 (2021–22): 11.76 lakh tonnes
  • Phase 2 (2023): 8 lakh tonnes
  • Phase 3 (2024–25): 10 lakh tonnes
  • Result: 28.5 acres freed up
• Recognition: Pune awarded 5-star garbage-free city rating.

Public Transport and Emissions

• PMPML buses:
  • 2023–24: 1887
  • 2024–25: 1961
  • Electric buses: 490
  • CNG buses: 1244
  • 88% of PMPML fleet is now green
  • Electric fleet has completed 5 crore km, reducing 7000 tonnes of CO₂ emissions.

Weather & Water Quality

• Rainfall: Jumped from 563.70 mm (2023–24) to 1311 mm (2024–25)
• Temperature extremes: Max 41.8°C, Min 7.8°C
• Mutha river quality (2024–25):
  • Dissolved Oxygen (DO): 5.34 mg/l
  • Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD): 95.27 mg/l
  • Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD): 27.71 mg/l

Cremation Practices

• Electric cremation usage: decreased from 36% to 33%
• Gas cremation usage: increased from 20% to 23%
• Wood usage: remains constant at 44%

Vehicles and Pollution

• Total vehicles registered (till July 2025):
  • 2023–24: 38,63,849
  • 2024–25: 41,25,968
• Electric vehicles: increased from 34,984 to 33,387 (drop noted)
• CNG vehicles: 41,495 → 43,533
• Hybrids: 5400 → 5781

Health Snapshot

• Dengue cases: up from 3377 to 4958
• Malaria: fell from 11 to 0
• Chikungunya: 40 → 485
• COVID-19 cases: 3235 → 566
• Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS): 198 → 205
• Stray dog sterilization (since 2018): 85,133 surgeries, resulting in 42.87% birth rate drop

LED Streetlighting & Energy Efficiency

• LED smart streetlights:
  • 2023–24: 1,93,364
  • 2024–25: 2,13,770
• Electricity savings: increased from 50% to 56%

Groundwater & Aquifer Mapping

• Aquifers mapped:
  • 50 in open/amenity spaces
  • 250 partially in such zones
• These are being developed as recharge zones to help in urban flood control, under NDMA’s Urban Flood Risk Management Programme.

Conclusion:
PMC’s latest ESR paints a complex picture of a rapidly growing Pune, striving for sustainability while battling mounting environmental pressures. While the rise in green cover, solar adoption, and bird biodiversity offers hope, deteriorating air quality and increasing waste call for urgent, systemic eco-restoration and sustainable urban planning.