PUNE: Residents of merged areas have demanded a special allocation of Rs1,000 crore in the civic budget to build infrastructure related to garbage processing, water supply, roads and other civic amenities in the areas.
The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) budget is expected to be presented on March 4.
“Years have passed since the merger, but residents of merged areas continue to suffer for basic facilities like drinking water. The issue of poor road infrastructure also prevails in most areas. The administration must focus on these issues on priority,” said Shrirang Chavan of Haveli Taluka Kriti Samiti, a citizens’ group from the merged areas.
The organisation has written a letter to the civic body demanding funds.
The initial proposal for merging 34 villages received approval from the civic body in 2013-14. Following court instructions, the administration incorporated 11 villages into its jurisdiction in 2017, with nine villages partially merged and Uruli-Phursungi completely integrated. The PMC expanded to become the largest municipal corporation in the state after including 23 additional villages in July 2021.
In Sept 2024, Uruli-Phursungi underwent demerger. Locals from the merged areas sought improved amenities from both civic authorities and state administration. Several resident groups advocated for the demerger of their areas. In response to these appeals, the state initiated the demerger process for two villages, including Uruli-Phursungi. Subsequently, these two areas got their own municipal council.
“Residents are paying heavy property tax to the civic body compared to the gram panchayat, which was looking after the civic affairs of the areas. The locals were hoping for better facilities and infrastructure after the villages merged into the municipal corporation. However, the situation worsened,” said Amar Chindhe, a resident of Ambegaon.
“The civic administration should carry out dedicated projects for improvement of these areas,” Chinde added.
PMC officials said the civic budget is likely to have a provision for the merged areas.
“The civic administration had allocated dedicated funds for the merged areas earlier too. Provisions are likely to be made in this budget too,” a senior PMC official said.
It may be noted that in March 2024, the then PMC administrator Vikram Kumar presented a budget of Rs11,601 crore for FY 2024-25. The budget was inflated by Rs2,086 crore compared to Rs9,515 crore in FY 2023-24.
PMC officials said the administration was banking on financial aid of Rs2,000 crore from state and central govts. The municipal budget crossed the Rs10,000 crore mark for the first time in FY 2024-25.
