Pune: Bharat Forge chairman and managing director Baba Kalyani, flagging rising pollution levels and absolute lack of cleanliness in the city, on Saturday said the state and local govts, along with residents, must work together to build a culture that makes Pune more liveable.Speaking at the Public Policy Festival 2026 at the Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics (GIPE), Kalyani said Pune lacked a basic culture of cleanliness. “There is dirt and filth everywhere in the city. Not a single footpath is walkable, and encroachments are rampant. Despite the Swachh Bharat Mission, I don’t think it is working effectively in Pune,” he said.“The problem is we live in an environment with an ecosystem littered with filth, dirt, dust, and everything else,” he added.Kalyani urged the govt and residents to take up a mission to make Pune green within the next two years by encouraging the adoption of electric vehicles. Warning that Pune could soon face pollution levels similar to Delhi if corrective steps are not taken, he stressed the urgency of action.“There is corporate interest in providing cleanliness solutions to the city, yet the civic administration should be proactive in accepting the solutions,” he said.Referring to Keshavnagar, where he lives, Kalyani pointed out that multiple ongoing construction projects were generating excessive dust.”Construction is happening across Pune, and dust from these sites is spreading everywhere. Why can’t there be a simple rule requiring trucks to be washed before entering and after leaving construction sites? This is followed in Japan, ensuring roads remain dust-free,” he said.Pune is ranked eighth nationally in the Swachh Survekshan 2024 conducted by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
