PUNE: The fast-expanding district may soon have four municipal corporations, with discussions advancing on creating a separate civic body for Chakan village and surrounding areas. Govt is already considering forming Hadapsar Municipal Corporation for the eastern parts of Pune city.
At present, there are Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad municipal corporations in the district. “A report is being compiled for forming a separate municipal corporation for Chakan and surrounding areas after the directive from state govt. The discussion about it started around a year ago. But process of compiling the report took a back seat because of the code of conduct in view of the Lok Sabha and assembly elections,” said a source at the district administration.
According to sources, the talks of villages under Alandi, Chakan and Rajgurunagar municipal councils uniting under a new municipal corporation are under way. State has directed PMC, PCMC and PMRDA authorities, besides the district collector, to look into the demand.
The talks of forming a separate municipal corporation for eastern parts of Pune city started over a decade back and gathered pace during the 2014 state assembly poll when the then deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar made an announcement in this regard before the merger of 34 villages into the PMC limits.
“Not only elected members, but citizens also want a new municipal corporation. It is necessary for better civic infrastructure management of the areas. The available resources cannot be used properly and rapid growth is putting a burden on them,” said Hadapsar MLA Chetan Tupe.
Senior Congress politician Mohan Joshi said the formation of separate municipal corporations might not be effective if they are financially sound. “State govt must allocate funds to run the existing governing bodies in Pune. Many key projects like 24X7 water supply are suffering owing to lack of funds. State and centre should give at least Rs 2,000 crore to Pune in the upcoming budget,” Joshi said.
The talks of a separate municipal corporation for the eastern parts gathered pace again in 2023, when the announcement of the demerger of two areas including Uruli-Phursungi was made. The citizens claimed that they were not getting adequate facilities, so they should be moved out from the PMC limits. But it did not work out. State govt sought the view of PMC about forming a separate municipal corporation for areas under its jurisdiction.
According to the residents, they are facing issues like water shortage, bad roads, poor coordination with the ward offices, unplanned development, sprawling slums and improper solid waste management.
The population under the civic limits has gone up by around 8 lakh after the merger of 34 villages, including the floating population.
Town planning experts in the city have supported the move, saying smaller municipal corporations were the need of the hour. Urban planner Ramchandra Gohad said, “The decentralisation of civic limits is advocated in the principles of town planning. Manpower deployment for municipal administration can be easier if it is done,” he said.
“No final assessment has been carried out about this proposal yet,” said Chandrakant Pulkundwar, Pune divisional commissioner.
