PMC halts hill excavation at Kothrud's Sutar Dara, serves notice on landowners

The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has stopped illegal excavation and levelling work on a hill slope in the Sutar Dara area of Kothrud, and notices have been issued to the landowners. The action followed criticism from environmental activists, who asked why the civic body had not intervened when heavy machinery was operating openly in broad daylight.

The work was under way on plots with survey numbers 113/1 and 113/2, which are recorded as hilltop-hillslope land. A JCB machine was used to level the slope, and the site was then fenced all round. Videos of the work began circulating on social media. Activists then asked how work carried out in full public view had escaped the attention of the civic administration.

The activists also approached the forest department, which clarified that the plots fall within PMC limits.

City engineer Aniruddha Pawaskar said PMC officials inspected the site as soon as the matter came to their notice. He said the landowners did not have the required permission from the PMC, and a stop-work notice was therefore issued. According to Pawaskar, the work has now been stopped and further inquiry is on.

Former MP and lawyer Vandana Chavan has demanded a detailed inquiry into the entire matter. She has submitted a memorandum to PMC Commissioner Naval Kishore Ram and Pawaskar. On Monday she warned the PMC against permitting excavation and hill-cutting in different parts of the city. She said the administration should stop such activity immediately, failing which there would be an agitation.

In her memorandum, Chavan has asked why the PMC is not following the government directive that satellite images of hills be taken and examined every six months to monitor and protect hilly areas. She has also asked that it be checked whether the required permissions existed for the excavation on survey numbers 113/1 and 113/2, in which category these plots are placed in the development plan, and, if any approval was granted, whether the work was carried out according to its conditions.

Meanwhile, questions have also been raised about the stop-work notice. It has been reported that the building permission department has acknowledged receiving the notice, but the paper was not on official PMC letterhead and carried no official stamp. It was handwritten on plain paper and signed by a junior engineer of the building development department and a building inspector.