Pune Tree Authority Fraud: AAP Exposes ₹125 Cr Mismanagement, ₹200 Cr Loss To Exchequer, ₹2000 Cr Environmental Damage
Pune Tree Authority Fraud: AAP Exposes ₹125 Cr Mismanagement, ₹200 Cr Loss To Exchequer, ₹2000 Cr Environmental Damage
Pune’s crucial green cover is under severe attack as Adv. Krunnal Gharre of the Aam Aadmi Party shared documentary evidence of alleged fraud and deception within the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) Tree Authority. The details from RTI and investigated documents reveals grave environmental law violations, culminating in over ₹125 crores of money mismanagement and an estimated ₹200 crores in loss to the exchequer, besides a massive ₹2000 crores worth of environmental damage to the city.
Records procured using RTI Between April 2022 and December 2023,show 22,362 trees were cut/transplanted, with NO records for 3,40,599 mandatory compensatory plantations. Financial impropriety is rampant: PMC departments were arbitrarily exempted from ₹13.4 crore in security deposits, and timber sale proceeds are missing.
Glaring procedural lapses and suspicion is raised where in a mere 45 trees out of over 22,000 were classified as “Heritage Trees,” , that is trees less than 50 years indicating deliberate manipulation of age records. The numbers suggest a laughable inference that Pune was a barren city before 1980 and all trees in Pune are planted post that.
Mukund Kirdat highlighted this scale of destruction and lack of execution extends across Maharashtra. Sudarshan Jagdale, Aam Aadmi Party City President, asserted, “This corruption directly reflects a lack of vision amongst politicians and the deeply entrenched political-contractor nexus that prioritizes profit over our environment.”
Adv. Gharre declared, “I will pursue every legal remedy to enforce these laws for the people’s benefit. The people need to rise now!” We demand immediate investigation, accountability for officials, and swift enforcement of all compensatory plantations. Sustainable development is our responsibility; greed and corruption cannot overpower it.
Other members of the party including Amit Mhaske, Aarti Karanjawane, Subhash Karande, Shantanu Pande, Nikhil Khandare, Ajinkya Jagdale and Satyan Nashikkar were also present.
