In the environment status report (ESR) for 2012-2013 tabled on Tuesday, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has showed a slight improvement in the city's environment performance index. However, the growth of the city remains the same in the current year compared to that of the previous year.
According to the report, the PMC scored 706.70 out of 1,000 in the overall rating as compared to 705.10 in 2011-12. The growth of the city continues to be the same at 114.5 out of 250 rating points. Also the status of resources and basic services remain the same— 253.2 and 205 respectively.
The report states that the city is in the eight position among the most populated cities of the country. However, this is subject to change after the civic jurisdiction is increased as proposed by the state government.
While there was a growth noticed in the real estate industry in the last few years, the report of the year 2012-13 showed that real estate has gone down in the last year as compared to 2011-12. The PMC mentioned that it approved 4,073 building construction plans in the current year.
Due to several measures taken by the civic administration to discharge treated river water, The water quality has improved, the ESR mentioned. The bio-chemical oxygen demand and chemical oxygen demand have comparatively reduced.
With a steep rise in the number of vehicles plying the road, the air pollution has considerably increased. While the green cover is maximum in Aundh ward office area, it is minimum in the Dhole-Patil Road ward office area. "Efficient public transport system like metro rail and BRTS are the only solutions to check the air pollution here," said additional municipal commissioner Rajendra Jagtap. The report states that sound pollution has increased during the night time.
The number of patients suffering from diabetes, hypertension, cancer and heart diseases continues to rise, the report says.
