Pune's hills, water bodies gasp for life

As the world celebrates Environment Day with much gusto perking up hope to condense the effects of climate change and other detrimental factors on the ecosystem herersquos a report on the health condition of rivers and hills around the city that have fallen prey to illegal concretisation encroachnments and haphazard planning SOS Environmentalists say the water bodies can be restored ifu00a0the ecosystem of nullahs rivers and lakes is liberated from human encroachment management and intervention File pics Pune which once boasted of having major rivers including Dev Nadi Ram Nadi Mula Mutha Dhanori and Pashan lake has lost its sheen because these water bodies are on the verge of complete concretisation due to ad hoc eruption of reckless development that began after 1997 Dev Nadi The 20km long rivulet which originates from Sus hills and flows through Balungha hills and Baner once provided water to the entire BanerPashan area But today it has condensed to a metrelong stream from a 60metre rivulet This happened when the PMC using Rs 100 crore allocated under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission JNNURM constructed concrete blocks for the 5km stretch of the river to prevent encroachments near the bank ldquoConcrete slabs were dumped into the river while channelisation reduced its width and blocked water percolationrdquo environmentalist Sarang Yadwadkar said Mula Mutha The 1869kmlong water body has turned black following release of untreated sewage poisonous discharge from industries The PMC in fact is the major contributor of pollution as the civic body releases up to 40 per cent of the total untreated sewage into the river Ram Nadi Similar is the state of Ram Nadi A 48kmlong river has been reduced to half due to encroachments and road planning in past two decades ldquoDevelopers have constructed compound walls along the river banks and have dumped debris in the river thereby raising the water levelrdquo said activist Shailendra Patel According to Anupam Saraph member of an NGO Jal Biradari the river has not only lost it natural flow but is also losing its flora and fauna due to river restoration watersport and river view projects However environmentalists claim that the water bodies can be restored if the ecosystem of nullahs rivers and lakes liberate them from human encroachment management and intervention Destruction and encroachment can be noticed on Taljai hill and Katraj hill where private developers are making a network of roads while individuals have constructed houses in the ecosensitive areas ldquoThe state governmentrsquos decision to allow construction in the four per cent of the total area of BioDiversity Parks BDP has spelt doom for the ecology of Pune Due to the rampant construction more than 40 per cent of the hills have been chopped downrdquo said Prakash Gole an environmentalist More disaster The State Urban Development Department has even proposed to convert about 50 acres of land in Kothrud which is marked as Hill Slope Zone in the development plan to Public Zone The land will be used for the construction of a vehicle testing track and laboratories for the Automotive Research Association of India According to Aneeta Benninger of Green Pune Movement although the government has passed a legislation asking local ward level functionaries and the police to stop illegal encroachment on hills there has been no enforcement so far ldquoFollowing the destruction of hills watersheds too get destroyed thereby leading to decline in groundwater Thus we are going towards desertification and the land is gradually becoming wasteland which will not be capable of producing biomass proportionate to its generic or intrinsic capacityrdquo said Benninger It has been about a decade since the BioDiversity Act was conceded by the government to protect the ecosystem and promote conservation However itrsquos a matter of shame that no local committee or board has been formed till date to check illegal encroachment and development on hills and rivers in Puneu00a0