Orchid Jiwan by Sanjeevani at Sus Baner
“The more we pollute the earth, the less we deserve to live on earth!” ―
“Automobiles are often conveniently tagged as the villains responsible for the ills of cities and the disappointments and futilities of city planning. But the destructive effects of automobiles are much less a cause than a symptom of our incompetence at city building!” - Jane Jacobs.
Two great names in the urban planning of today’s world & great thinkers (philosophers too) who always warn us the way we plan our towns or cities at the cost of nature at large! Mehmet is from Turkistan while Jane is from USA yet what they write is applicable not just to their regions but entire world planners which as usual we ignore & price, we are already paying1 Our Pune city is not exception to their writings & if you think I am far fetching the subject the read every day’s column about pollution figures which indicates air quality of the city, suburb-wise! Problem is, as usual only the real estate is considered as demon (read as, the demon) in this city or say society & face the burnt. I remember my school days when there are few boys in the class (needless to say I was one of them) whom the teachers (all the teachers) use to beat whatever wrong happens in the class from their purview & their justification was we don’t need any proof, these buggers must be party to the wrong doings & our only fault was, our poor or say bad reputation! Today when I open newspapers & read the pollution figures of air quality or water shortage or even accidents happening because of heavy vehicles such as concrete carrying mixer trucks or dumpers or water tanker’s accidents & blaming on real estate i.e. constructions going all in & around the city, I get the same feeling even after being an older, which I had as a student! And if punishment then was being beaten by the teachers today the punishment comes in the form of notices or stop work i.e. financial punishment (read as stresses) from every teacher which are in the form of various agencies & media & NGOs,’ is my subject of sharing!
No, I am not justifying how real estate is right & innocent as two things, one I know nobody will believe me & another is, that’s not my purpose of sharing but to make you realize about problems created by wrong urban planning, wrong business (real estate) policies & suggestions for solutions for pollution problems, if we really want to solve them! As agreed, real estate has its lacuna, just the way we as students had in our school days but we weren’t the only problem makers & by punishing only a few students whether they are faulty or not you can improve others kids, that logic still prevails, is my subject of sharing! And most importantly every time if you start punishing the same students for problems created by other students then you will lose them from the education forever, same is with real estate! Air pollution of the city has deteriorated, stopping constructions. Water shortage is there due to lesser rainfall, stop constructions. Drainage lines are inadequate, stop constructions. Roads are not good or land for roads are not acquired, stop constructions. Road accidents are increasing, stop construction industry's vehicles (eventually stopping constructions). The list for stopping construction under the blame for any reason which is the outcome of wrong policies of the govt is endless, is my subject of sharing!
About water shortage, the infamous ever-going war between Irrigation dept which is supposedly custodian of water in entire State & our very own PMC is on & while the builder has no say in this yet I am sure there will be stop works in the summer for less water supply, as Hon irrigation Minister has already blamed it on the builders being selfish for water consumption causing water shortage for the masses, wow, just wow! Bhai log (brothers & Sisters), the builders build the houses for the citizens of this very city only & they build these houses only after getting sanction from the PMC or some govt dept only by paying lots of money to the govt from which the govt is supposedly do the infrastructure works such as water supply, so how the builders can be blamed for shortage of water to the masses, & a responsible minister of govt makes such statement, is my subject of sharing! At the same time the ongoing drive of giving stop work notices to the construction sites for air pollution is the outcome of one such “Killing of Business Policy Making,” as indeed pollution must be curbed but then has anybody really checked the count of pollution created from the construction sites & nature of that pollution? Because, hazardous is CO (carbon Monoxide), Sulphur, Lead & all such elements or chemicals & none of above is generated from the construction works is what I can surely tell as a civil engineer! Yes, the dust aspect is there but the volume is negligible & its periodical & one time, though that too needed to be controlled is sure but stopping construction & blaming entire city’s air quality on construction is totally outrageous & wrong & illegal is my subject of sharing!
On the top of it some gentleman filed a complaint against air pollution in Green Tribunal in Ahmedabad & our State’s environment dept stopped giving EC environment clearance which is needed for projects above built-up area of 2 lakh sft, is the super joke! Just because real estate’s every project is a new industry in a way so you can hold the builders on the gun point but why don’t you then stop all the industries in the Pune region which are polluting air & water every day in some way for sure! And why don’t you stop nearly 70 lakhs plus vehicles from coming on roads which everyday let tons of toxic gasses in the city’s air! And all these vehicle’s another side effect is, unlike their owners they can’t be fitted inside home but need ground or open space which they take from the trees! These 75 lakh vehicles are like citizens of the city & they are on move & wherever these are parked, it takes away the space of some tree which we cut to park our car & reduces green cover of the city in process, adding to the air pollution of the city! Then comes the issue of garbage burning in & around the city which is illegal & yet being done all around the year, which is major cause of air pollution in suburbs like Hinjewadi as well the villages which are now in Municipal Corporations i.e. PMC & PCMC! This is happening because of inadequate garbage collection & treatment facilities on civic bodies but the sufferer is the entire city & builders! There are millions of IT Parks, Malls in this city which use Air-conditioning units & causing the air temperature of surroundings to rise significantly which again is one of the causes of air pollution; so, shut down all such malls & IT parks too, can we do that? Last, but not least, Diwali is ok but may it be some tournament victory or marriage or birthday of a Bhai or election results, the city’s sky is filled up with every type of fire crackers generated. Each of these fancy firecrackers emits more than one building’s polluted elements in air which are super toxic, who is going to give stop work on the sale of firecrackers in the city, is my question to the govt! Govt don’t (and won’t) do any of above things because govt doesn’t dare to do it, govt knows this & builders are the easiest of scape-goats to slit the throat, so you stop their projects & show the people how active you are in caring for the clean air in the city, high time people must understand this, is my subject of sharing! As you can make a logical study & policy for the norms to follow at site to control air pollution as well see that those are being followed just like other norms such as side margins & plan sanctions, that’s the right way to do it! And what about thousands of illegal homes being build every day in every town & city & not just in Pune, who are stopping them not for just making pollution but polluting the entire city by their mere existence, what are we doing about them, high time real estate dons’ must ask this question to the govt!
The real reason of air pollution in the city is not some ongoing construction sites but alarmingly increasing numbers of vehicles & their exhausts, very poor public transport which forces citizens to use their private vehicles, small & large industries in & around city & reducing green cover of the city due to overdose (read as greed) of FSI by the govt to earn more money in the form of development charges & registration charges & GST type taxes via construction! The govt wants money from real estate but doesn’t want the responsibility of taking care of the real estate process; is, my subject of sharing! At the same time, millions of people are migrating from all over to some city or region for their survival, which again causes the burden of every infra thing on that city & eventually causing an increase in pollution, who is responsible for this migration but govt! And the builders which are supposed to build houses for these migrants, are being blamed for air pollution, wow again! Sorry, this I am not writing because I am a builder or to support builders, read & think with your own brain & then decide the cause of air pollution or water shortage like aspects of your own city, & then if you feel I am still wrong, just ignore my words then! Today you are stopping construction works for water shortage & making builders give affidavit to provide water to the buildings which the govt itself is sanctioning & is partner to them actually; tomorrow the govt may ask builders to provide oxygen also to the residents of the buildings because govt fails to provide clean air to the citizens, what next? Rather, increase tree cover, create green patches in & around the city, strengthen public transport to reduce the need for private vehicles, make urban development laws the right way, try to save every drop of water, conserve natural water bodies, shift all industries from where their pollution can be controlled & many such things! High time for the public to ask the questions to the govt instead blaming some fraternity for its failure on clean air front, as dear citizens, you have voted to the rulers in the govt & not to some industrialists for your comfort, mind it & act or else one day there will be only the pointing fingers at your own self in the mirror, adios with this warning!
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Sanjay Deshpande
Sanjeevani Dev.
Please view my sharing about finding a Right Home/ Office in Pune, at YouTube link below & share if liked...
https://youtu.be/27j3I3rwGPQ?si=-ODYBxVI2Dl_C345
Please do visit my blog links below to read about real estate & home buying!
https://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2024/12/right-home-buying-in-2025.html
https://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.com/2024/12/2025.html
Creating Togetherness; team Sanjeevani Way (Click link below)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/albums/72157627904681345
For any of your complaints about city, log in at link below
www.punecorporation.org
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