Pune: PMC on Wednesday restricted construction activities to 14 hours in a day, after residents raised voice over pollution.“Effective immediately, all construction and excavation activities within Pune municipal limits will be permitted only from 7am to 9pm,” said a directive issued by city engineer Aniruddha Pawaskar on Wednesday.He said the directive was issued following a surge in construction-induced health-related complaints from residents. “If merit is found in any complaints, action such as stop-work will be taken,” he told TOI.According to Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) officials, residents suffering because of construction-related noise or air pollution can lodge complaints with the civic administration. They can call the PMC care helpline or reach out to the building permission department.Environment expert Vaishali Patkar said, “The civic administration should strictly monitor sites. More manpower should be involved in this work. Steps such as GPS-enabled cameras for flying squads to detect norm violators can be taken.”According to the PMC data, around 2,500 building permissions are given every year in the civic limits. The number is likely to increase as the PMC is now the planning authority for the 23 merged areas.Opposition unhappy with budgetOpposition parties alleged an “imbalance” in allotment of funds in the PMC budget (2026-27). Congress corporators said representatives from opposition parties did not get adequate funds. NCP corporators said the budget was not “realistic” because it lacked specific provisions to increase the civic body’s revenue. A special general body meeting was held on Wednesday to discuss the civic budget.
