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Time of India
an hour ago
- General
- Time of India
More moderate days in PMC areas in 2024-25: Environmental Status Report
1 2 Pune: The Environmental Status Report published on Tuesday showed deterioration in air quality under PMC areas, with fewer good and satisfactory days and more moderate and very poor days, as far as AQI PM10 levels are concerned, in 2024-25 compared to 2023-24. The data, published by Pune Municipal Corporation, showed Pune had 52 good days in 2024-25, compared to 79 in 2023-24, while the satisfactory days were 137 in 2024-25 against 145 in the previous year. The bad days went up to 3 in 2024-25 compared to just one in 2023-24. The moderate days also increased from 140 in 2023-24 to 174 in 2024-25 in a year's time, as per the data. "Use of fossil fuels and increase in vehicular population could have caused decline in air quality," said Mangesh Dighe, head of PMC's environment department. You Can Also Check: Pune AQI | Weather in Pune | Bank Holidays in Pune | Public Holidays in Pune "Efforts are needed to increase the use of public transport. The administration should also create more awareness about vehicular pollution. The use of personal vehicles should be discouraged," said Vaishali Patkar, an environmentalist. Urban planners said increase in urbanisation and a real estate boom driven by redevelopment of old properties were contributing to an increase in pollution. Also, concreting of roads was adversely impacting the environment. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Use an AI Writing Tool That Actually Understands Your Voice Grammarly Install Now Undo Citizens said open burning of waste was leading to deterioration in air quality in the city. Baner resident Atul Kher said instances of burning in the open were causing health problems. "Instances of burning of waste along nullahs and rivers should be curbed," he said. "The promotion of green-field citizens should be on the cards. Densification near public transport facilities like the Metro should also be done on priority. But while doing so, the administration must ensure that the allied civic infrastructure is built simultaneously," said Ramchandra Gohad, a senior urban planner. The ESR data also showed that the civic areas generated 2,100 tonnes of trash per day in 2023-24, which increased to 2,350 tonnes in 2024-25. Usage of solar power went up nearly two times in a year's time. Citizens consumed 166,513 KW of solar power, out of which 61% was used by domestic users and housing societies, the data said. The data also showed that garbage collection increased by around 150 tonnes per day.
Time of India
4 hours ago
- Business
- Time of India
Demand in Uruli-Phursungi to merge back with PMC
Pune: Former corporators and some other residents of Uruli-Phursungi have demanded that the state merge the areas back with the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) ahead of the civic poll. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The areas were merged with PMC in 2017 and removed in 2024, with a separate municipal council being formed. The aforementioned group of local residents wants the council scrapped and a return to the PMC administrative arrangement. They have submitted a memorandum to deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar. Phursungi resident Sanjay Harpale said, "The council is not able to work effectively. The whole thing is a mere formality amid lack of manpower and funds, the latter being stuck with the state govt." The group said both villages had around 150 govt staffers to look after issues affecting the areas and it has reduced to 60 after the demerger. The annual revenue generation of the council is expected to be around Rs40 crore — insufficient for development works. "The demerger has caused more problems than improve the situation. Structured growth of infrastructure and civic facilities can gather pace only if the areas are attached to PMC, and thus our demand for a remerger," said Ranjit Raskar, a former gram panchayat member. A section of residents said they were getting facilities including scholarships for students and other health benefits, like dialysis, at discounted rates in civic hospitals while in PMC's jurisdiction. A large number of local residents from financially weaker sections used to gain from many such facilities which stood discontinued after the demerger. Civic officials said the initial proposal for merging 34 villages was approved in 2013-14. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now PMC included 11 villages in its jurisdiction in 2017 following court instructions. Nine villages were partially merged, while Uruli Devachi and Phursungi were fully integrated. PMC expanded to become the largest municipal corporation in the state after including 23 villages in July 2021. In Sept 2024, Uruli Devachi-Phursungi went through a demerger process after many residents raised the demand. Another section of residents said that for years, they have not had basic facilities like drinking water and are troubled by the poor road infrastructure. They have demanded the administration focus on such issues on priority. PMC had two elected members from both the areas. After the municipal council was formed, people's representation was hampered and, more so now, since the areas will not be considered for the delimitation process for civic poll likely to be held in Nov or Dec. Thus, the growing demand from former corporators and some residents.
Indian Express
7 hours ago
- Business
- Indian Express
Pune doubles solar generation in a year but fails to improve air quality
Adopting various environment friendly measures, Pune has doubled the use of renewable energy in a year to meet its daily power supply needs but that did not help improve the city's air quality as it recorded an increase in the number of new vehicles and could not curb the use of conventional methods for cremation. The Environment Status Report (ESR)—published by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) for 2024-25 on Tuesday— revealed that the use of solar power in the city has doubled in the year. 'A total of 1,66,513 kW solar power was generated in the city in 2024-25 as against 79,618 kW in 2023-24, which means it has doubled in a year,' said the report. The total power usage in the city was 72,99,888 kW, of which the maximum consumption was in residential areas with 54,44,847 kW. The report stated solar panels generating 50,097 kW were installed in the city in the last one year and 61 per cent of this energy was used by residential buildings. The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has also given a push to its energy conservation by increasing the LED smart street lights from 1,93,364 in 2023-24 to 2,13,770 in 2024-25 while saving electricity from 50 per cent to 56 percent. The use of water heaters also increased from 72,821 in 2023-24 to 95,707 in 2024-25. As per the ESR, Pune had only 52 good days and 137 satisfactory days of air quality in 2024-25 as against 79 good days and 145 satisfactory days in 2023-24. The very poor days and poor days increased from one to three while moderate days increased from 140 in 2023-24 to to 174 in 2024-25. There was an addition of 3,02,760 new vehicles in 2024-25, which is an increase of over 10,000 from the previous year. Of the new vehicles. maximum were petrol vehicles (1,87,664), followed by 29,613 diesel vehicles, 19,457 are pure electric vehicles, 16,059 CNG only vehicles and the remaining are hybrid. However, it could not reduce the use of traditional pyre for cremation as 44 percent of cremations in the city continued to take place with wood pyre while only 33 percent cremations were done in electric facilities and 23 percent in gas facilities in 2024-25. Meanwhile, the PMC continued with its effort to tackle air pollution in the city by using environment friendly fuel run vehicles for public transport as 1,734 PMPML buses, including 1,244 CNG run buses and 490 electric buses, constitute the 88 per cent fleet of PMPML, which is helping reduce air pollution. Now, only 227 diesel buses are in the PMPML fleet. The report stated 490 electric buses have plied over 5 crore km and helped reduce 7,000 tonne of carbon emission. The city received good rainfall of 1,311 mm last year as against 536.70mm in 2023-24 but there was an increase in maximum and minimum temperature in 2024-2025. The maximum temperature increased to 41.8 degree Celsius in 2024-25 as against 41 degree Celsius in 2023-2024 while minimum temperature registered was 7.8 degree Celsius in 2024-2025 as against 7.4 degree Celsius in 2023-24. Citizens getting affected due to vector-borne diseases were higher in 2024-25 as the city recorded 4,958 dengue patients and 485 chikungunya cases as against 3,377 dengue patients and 40 chikungunya cases in 2023-2024. Incidentally, there was not a single malaria case registered in the city last year as against 11 in its previous year. The Covid cases also dropped from 3,235 in 2023-24 to 566 in 2024-25 while GBS cases were 198 in 2023-24 and 205 in 2024-2025. It also stated that 85,133 stray dogs sterilisation was done since 2018 so the birthrate of stray dogs decreased by 42.87 percent.
Time of India
9 hours ago
- Climate
- Time of India
Residents struggle as parts of city remain inundated
1 2 Patna: As downpour continued in Patna, several parts of the city remained inundated on Tuesday. Workers of the civic body were still pumping out the sewage-mixed rainwater from multiple affected areas, as residents waded through ankle to knee-deep water in areas like Patliputra Colony, Patel Nagar, Lohanipur, Kadamkuan, Rajbanshi Nagar, Digha, Danapur, Kankerbagh, Patna City and Phulwarisharif. Anuradha Jha, a resident of Gardanibagh, said the waterlogging situation in Gardanibagh Road number 1 remained the same since Monday. Aman Rajpur Singh said water entered houses in Bazaar Samiti area. "People have been living in waterlogged houses for the last 24 hours. There is no help till now," he said. Roshan Goswami, a resident of Danapur, said that the local residents have been facing waterlogging since Sunday night. "There are snakes in water. We are left with no groceries or vegetables. Dirty drain water have inundated our lane. I invested Rs 70,000 to make a small pathway, but the water crosses the line every year," he complained. Meanwhile, urban development and housing minister Jibesh Kumar, along with road construction minister Nitin Nabin, inspected different waterlogged areas. Patna municipal commissioner Animesh Parashar and mayor Sita Sahu also separately reviewed the situation. The urban development minister also held a review meeting regarding the drainage system in Patna with all MLAs from the region, MLCs, and senior officials from the department. Jibesh instructed the officials to ensure that water be pumped out from the affected areas by night. He directed the officials to use suction machines in low-lying areas to remove water and suggested bringing in more machines and pumps from nearby municipal bodies if needed. He also emphasised employing experts and engineers from other departments to ensure water is drained from all areas of the capital. The department's secretary, Abhay Kumar Singh, said that since Monday evening, 348 complaints were received on the helpline number concerned, all of which were resolved. "Patna recorded a total of 175.4 millimetres of rain in 12 hours from Sunday night to Monday morning. Water was drained from about 90% areas, but subsequent rainfall on Monday night and Tuesday morning led to waterlogging again," he said. Parashar said 19 QRT teams (at headquarters and zonal levels), along with the officials of Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) and Buidco, were deployed across the city day and night. "The staff is monitoring the water level of sump houses in real time using walkie-talkies and with the help of CCTV cameras. Additional pumping machines have been deployed in all zones. The staff has been assigned duties in three shifts at sump houses, and the drainage system is being kept active," he said. There are 56 permanent sump houses in Patna and 36 temporary drainage pumping stations (DPS). A total of 364 pumps — 265 electric and 99 diesel sets — are being used this time. Of these, 256 pumps are installed at permanent DPS, and 83 at the temporary DPS. Meanwhile, a resident, Niranjan Paswan, asked why the PMC and Buidco did not use the same system to know in advance, how many drains are choked, how many drainage workers are deployed, and how many water entry-exit points are blocked by garbage. If the check is done regularly, it can drastically reduce waterlogging, he suggested.
Hindustan Times
17 hours ago
- General
- Hindustan Times
72 trees to be transplanted as construction of Pune Police commissionerate's HQ begins
PUNE: While the Pune Police Commissionerate is currently constructing a green-compliant, state-of-the-art headquarters at the existing campus near Sadhu Vaswani Mission, the police have clarified that most of the 72 trees at the premises, many of them nearly a century old, will be transplanted rather than felled to clear space for construction of the new building. Only exotic or commercially non-native species will be razed and that too, after obtaining due permission from the Pune Municipal Corporation's (PMC's) tree authority committee. New Delhi, India - Aug. 21, 2018: The Ber sports a dense, spread-out crown and is said to be part of Delhi's native range of trees. It has been cultivated for its fruit in India for a very long time. Here seen in Hauz Khas, it is also found on Aurobindo Marg, the Qutub compound and in Shalimar Bagh. (Photo by Sanchit Khanna / Hindustan Times) **For Saturday (Sanchit Khanna/HT PHOTO) Speaking on the ecological concerns, additional commissioner (administration) Sanjay Patil, said, 'A decision on the transplantation of 72 trees will be taken after a meeting with the PMC's tree authority. These trees will be transplanted to the State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) campus at Wanawadi. Only commercial and exotic species will be cut with the civic body's permission.' The Commissionerate is currently home to 72 trees, many of them nearly a century old. The new development, though modern in scope, aims to be mindful of the legacy. Moreover, the upcoming building has received green building certification and is architecturally modelled on the Pune Collectorate. The new building will house offices for both senior and junior police officials, organised across multiple floors based on the police hierarchy. Key branches to be accommodated include the crime branch, special branch, foreign citizen registration, photography and fingerprint unit, general administration and the Commissionerate headquarters. These units will be strategically distributed within the building to ensure efficient workflow and accessibility. In addition to operational offices, the facility will feature several modern amenities aimed at enhancing service delivery and staff welfare. The building will also prioritise accessibility and sustainability, incorporating disabled-friendly access points, a solar power system, and a sewage treatment plant. Furthermore, ample parking space will be available to accommodate both staff and visitors. Designed in a T-shaped layout, the new headquarters will consist of a ground floor and five upper floors, with plans already approved by a high-powered committee led by the Maharashtra chief secretary. While the Pune police had proposed a budget of ₹242.99 crore, the state government has sanctioned ₹193.80 crore for the first phase of construction. To begin work, demolition of the peripheral offices excluding the historic main building started in March 2025. The new structure is expected to be completed within two to three years. During the construction period, essential departments including the control room, CCTV monitoring unit, and other operational offices have been temporarily relocated to the Shivajinagar police headquarters. The commissioner's office itself will soon be shifted to a private rented facility nearby to ensure continuity of operations.
