Pune: The merger of 34 ‘fringe areas’ into Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) over the past decade has made it the largest civic body in Maharashtra.Spanning over approximately 520sqkm as per its official website, PMC beats even the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in size (around 440sqkm). Today, however, lakhs of residents living in neighbourhoods that were merged into PMC limits — 11 villages in 2017 and 23 in 2021 — regret buying houses in these localities. Most say that not even the most basic civic facilities and services are available to them. Be it access to clean and healthy water from the corporation, pothole-free smooth roads, waste-free public spaces or even uninterrupted power supply, these residents seem to have received the short end of the stick. When TOI spoke to denizens of merged areas in the north, south, east and west of the city, the litany was the same — “Why should we pay higher taxes than before and not receive facilities at par with more central city areas?” The residents’ experience with PMC is also marred by the fact that civic elections have not taken place since 2022, soon after they were brought into the fold. Now, they said, in the absence of local corporators, many crucial infrastructure works have been hampered, impacting their standard of living. In fact, in 2024, Uruli Devachi and Phursungi demerged from PMC on the demands of their residents and got a separate municipal council of their own. Most recently, a group of residents from merged areas appealed to PMC to fast-track the finalisation of its long-pending development plan (DP), which will guide the development of their respective neighbourhoods. The Pune Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (PMRDA) draft DP, which included the 23 villages merged in 2021, had earlier met with a lot of criticism. Citizens claimed that it did not have their best interests at heart. On April 3 this year, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis cancelled PMRDA’s draft DP, leaving development of these 23 villages in a limbo. Meanwhile, residents said they continue to struggle in these localities, while those from the areas merged in 2017 narrated a similar experience. Proximity to IT park marred by pothole-filled stretches Mhalunge resident Soumitra Gaikwad lives in a rented house in this area, even as his own home gets constructed a few kilometres away. “I bought a house in Mhalunge because my daughter’s school is here. As an IT professional, Hinjewadi is close too for the daily commute to office. The idea was to not spend too much time travelling. However, this goal has failed. We get stuck in traffic now even for the shortest of distances. I wish we had moved my daughter to another school when she was younger and not invested in this area. Now, it is too late to change it all,” Gaikwad told TOI. Missing walkable footpaths, issues in PMC-supplied water and the rising vehicle count on roads has made life stressful for most residents here. Many who chose to move to this zone because of its proximity to the IT park and other conveniences are now confronted with constant traffic jams and poor road conditions. Commuters also said rising accidents have left them worried for the safety of their loved ones and themselves. “It is getting claustrophobic and congested now. More buildings are being built indiscriminately, and construction is on throughout the day. There is dust everywhere, all the time,” Gaikwad added. Quality of life under threat as basic amenities lacking Having lived in Pune prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, Abhishek Parasher and his wife were hopeful of settling down in the city. A few years ago, they invested in a house in Wagholi. “We moved to our hometown in May 2020 during the lockdown. At the time, the process to include Wagholi under PMC limits was ongoing. We had lived in the area before and when we thought of returning to Pune, we were hopeful that things had gotten better,” Parasher told TOI. Their dream soon fell apart. “We almost feel like we were cheated. Buying a house anywhere in Pune, including in Wagholi, is expensive. We sometimes question why we invested in a house in an area where there is absolutely no traffic management. It takes more than an hour to cover a distance of just 5km,” said the IT professional. “Our biggest concern about the locality at this point, besides poor traffic management, is the bad quality water supply. If your water purifier is not working well, you will definitely fall sick if you live here. Water is a basic necessity for all,” Parasher added. Most residents of this neighbourhood believe that if the situation does not improve soon, it will drastically affect their quality of life.Population up but civic services fail to show any improvement IT professional Murali Nair bought a house in Undri in 2018 after it was merged into PMC, assuming that facilities in the neighbourhood would soon be at par with those in areas that have been within the civic body’s jurisdiction for longer. “I have never regretted a decision more,” he rued, adding, “My wife and I thought moving to a society located on a hill in Undri would be good. We would have greenery around us and our children would get a cosmopolitan environment to grow up in, since that was the demographic at the time. Little did I know that eight years on, we would be struggling for water or a decent motorable road.” For Nair and several other residents living in Undri, Pisoli and some surrounding merged areas, regret has become a daily difficulty. Mumbai-based Colonel Kiran Gurav (retired) bought a home in Undri in 2013, back when the area was still part of the gram panchayat. “It was a nice house for our family to spend weekends in, enveloped in the quiet of a barely populated locality,” he said. Moreover, after the merger, Gurav assumed that civic services would improve. “We thought availability of drinking water at least would get better. However, we continue to buy water from tankers, nigh on a decade post-merger,” said the security professional, adding, “Traffic and noise issues have also increased exponentially in the last few years, as the population has gone up. It is no longer that idyllic haven.” Ravi Ganachari moved from Dhanori to Porwal Road in Lohegaon, just as the area was merged into PMC in 2017. While he does not regret buying a house in the locality, he said that nothing has improved since the merger. “There have been very small changes, like we got streetlights. However, bigger projects like widening of roads for traffic management or water supply have yet to become a reality for us,” the businessman informed. Plan for future is missing, no holistic development in sight Prior to its merger into PMC, Bavdhan Budruk in southwest Pune was a lush green space, with residents able to enjoy cool temperatures and minimal traffic. Today’s scene is a stark contrast: pothole-ridden roads, tankers supplying drinking water, never-ending traffic jams and dust from constant construction is the new reality. “Sometimes, I feel I should have considered investing a little more money and buying a house in an area that was already under PMC, like maybe Kothrud. I moved to Bavdhan Budruk in 2021 and have only seen the area deteriorate since. Something as simple as the service road right outside our society is always in a terrible state. We have raised multiple complaints, but they always get closed without any solution. It’s like no one is listening,” said Neeraj Maheshwari, an IT professional living in the area. According to other residents as well, the area lacks a proper DP, similar to other merged villages. The citizens here pointed out that the officials in charge have neglected the area so much that they aren’t even aware of the issues. In many cases, the only way to get work done is for the residents to get involved with constant follow-ups. Mayuri Khaladkar, an entrepreneur living in the neighbourhood since 2020, said, “The only thing that has changed since Bavdhan Budruk was introduced into PMC is that our property tax has increased, but without any actual benefits.” Khaladkar bought her flat in 2016, before the merger took place. She told TOI, “We need amenity spaces, gardens, community centres and more, but all of this is limited to Bavdhan Khurd, which is on the other side of the Pune-Mumbai Expressway. I wish I had spent more and bought a house in another area. We are still hopeful of holistic development, but all we are getting now is more buildings and more residents. With resources already limited, we are struggling daily.” WHAT OFFICIALS SAY Solid Waste Management DepartmentSWaCH works in some areas, and we have ‘ghanta gadis’ as well to pick up waste from the feeder points that have been identifed. We have been receiving a few complaints from the merged areas about garbage dumps and our officials on field attend to those immediately. However, if the problem persists, I will speak to the officials and we will find the best solution to resolve the issue at the earliest — Sandip Kadam | Deputy commissioner, PMC Road Department We are getting the sanctioned budget for the merged areas in parts. As a result, the work will also have to be carried out in phases. We are also trying to coordinate with different departments so that water supply, stormwater, drainage and all other facilities can be laid before the road work is done. This is essentially so that we can avoid digging the road again and again. We have taken up the issue on priority — Aniruddha Pawaskar | Chief engineer, PMC Water Supply Department Water availability and funding determines how much water each merged area will get. Development plan (DP) for many of these areas is already ready, and work will start soon. For other areas like Undri, we are in the process of drafting the DP. Areas like Uttamnagar or Manjari that have some kind of govt scheme are the last on our priority list. We are working on areas based on technicalities and available sources — Nandkishor Jagtap | Chief engineer, PMC Drainage Department When the merged villages were under the gram panchayat, there was no drainage line. However, permissions were given by PMRDA to begin constructing buildings. Usually, facilities like stormwater drains, drainage lines, water pipelines and roads are built before people start living there. At present, there are already people living in these areas, but they don’t have facilities. So we often get a lot of complaints. We have come up with a plan for the areas that were merged in 2017. As part of this plan, 180km of drainage lines have already been laid. We also have a masterplan for the other 23 villages, which is in its last stages of sanction. The sanction should come within the next few weeks and work should start in a month or two. It will take at least two to three years to complete the work — Jagdish Khanore | Chief engineer, PMC Pune Traffic Police Currently, the merged areas don’t have a major traffic problem. However, planning authorities must look into better provisions for the future and they must do it now. A ring road is also the need of the hour since a lot of vehicles having no other alternative routes pass through the city, congesting the narrow roads. Acquisition for road widening is easy when the areas are developing and must be taken up on priority by the relevant authorities — Himmat Jadhav | DCP, traffic
