PUNE: The civic body carried out a significant demolition drive against unauthorized structures in different locations of the city on Thursday.
Along with illegal constructions, action is also being taken against roadside encroachments as part of the ongoing drive, said Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) officials.
The crackdown on Thursday focused mainly on illegal dwellings in Shivajinagar, which have been constructed on an open plot of the Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation Limited (Maha Metro) in the Dengale Bridge area. Here, a team of civic officials executed the razing action in association with the police department.
Besides this, a drive was also conducted in Chandannagar, where a number of unauthorized shops and roadside eateries were demolished, as were several illegal food joints near the IT park.
A senior PMC official told TOI, “These shops and food outlets were set up without any permissions. As they were causing encroachment, notices were served to them earlier, but despite the same they had been operating illegally. So, they were demolished.”
Action was also taken against similar structures in the Kondhwa area, civic officials said.
As per the available data, over 125 illegal structures — including sheds, makeshift shops, roadside stalls, and constructions on side margins and front margins — were affected during the drive.
Civic officials said PMC has been conducting such drives along key roads of the city for the last two or three months.
A similar demolition drive had taken place on FC Road in June 2023 following an alleged drug party at a lounge on the stretch. Prior to this, the civic administration also undertook a drive against illegal constructions in the last week of May 2024, after the Porsche crash in Kalyaninagar.
During this drive, illegal rooftop restaurants in Kalyaninagar, Mundhwa, the Pune railway station area, Koregaon Park, Vimannagar, Deccan, Kothrud, and Ghorpadi were targeted. PMC officials said they had acted against 45 food joints during this action and demolished illegal constructions sprawled over around 5 lakh sq ft.
