PUNE: The leaders of the ruling NCP in the city have locked horns with each other over the environmental impact of the proposed road connecting Paud Road and Balbharati. While a party faction supporting city unit chief Vandana Chavan has strongly opposed it citing environmental reasons, a section of party corporators has taken the matter to party president Sharad Pawar seeking his intervention to speed up the project.
The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has proposed the link road with a total length of approximately 2.1 km, starting from Kelewadi junction and culminating at Balbharati (behind ILS Law College on SB Road). The project has drawn the ire of civic activists and environmentalists who have objected to the project because it would cut through the hill which has a rich biodiversity. Besides, the hill is known for its popularity among morning walkers.
Vandana Chavan and her supporters have strongly opposed the road saying that it will destroy the biodiversity of the region and will adverse impact on environment. Also they have suggested that the road would not solve congestion problem. They submitted their views through the suggestions and objections to the draft Development Plan (DP) for the old city area. All hill tops and hill slopes in the city should be protected as bio diversity parks, they argued.
"We are not opposing this specific road. But we are against any the human intervention with environment.
The road will destroy hill, which falls in the green belt with a rich biodiversity. Building a road here will mean cutting hundreds of trees," said Chavan while speaking to TOI.
The suggestions and objections submitted by Chavan and her supporters states: "The area above the 1:5 gradient had been earmarked as 'Hill Top Hill Slope Zone' in the 1987 DP for the old city limits of Pune. The draft DP retains the same status to this area. It is suggested that the entire area be earmarked as BDP reservation, as has been done in the DP for the 23 merged villages in Pune."
Environmentalists opposing the road link have also questioned the civic body's revised environment impact assessment report, which states that the link road will have only a marginal impact on the flora and fauna on the stretch it would pass through. Some environmentalists claimed that the agency conducting the assessment was under pressure to submit a report supporting the road.
However, another section of NCP corporators and leaders have openly defied city unit chief Chavan's stand. NCP leader and former corporator Nilesh Nikam, who has submitted suggestions and objections to the draft DP supporting the road, said, "Already, the PMC has acquired half of the land required for the road and the PMC has spent Rs 2 crore. This road will reduce traffic congestion on Law college Road besides improving the mobility of vehicles plying from Kothrud, Karvenagar, Sahakarnagar and Swargate - Senapati Bapat road." He said that the PMC should complete the road immediately as the environment impact assessment report has supported the road.
The environment impact assessment and the traffic survey study report, prepared by Shrishti Eco-Research Institute for PMC, states that the objective of constructing the road is to reduce traffic load on Law College road and to avoid losses, delays and air pollution resulting from congestion on the road. The report has stressed on the need for this road as it would considerably reduce the congestion on Law College road. "The carrying capacity of the Law College Road is completely exhausted due to ever-increasing traffic volume," the report states, making a case for exploring alternatives in the form of new roads. The report states that "after implementation of all the mitigation measures, the project can be considered as non-polluting" and that it will become environmentally sustainable.
