Air freshener for Wanowrie

PMC proposes replacing biogas generation unit in residential area with garden, swimming pool, gym and yoga centre

IF the new development plan is passed, residents of Kedari Nagar in Wanowrie will for the time in seven years get to breathe fresh air as the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has proposed a recreational ground with a gymnasium, swimming pool and a yoga centre on a three-acre-wide ground near Bhairoba Nullah.


Change is in the air: The open space where a gym and a swimming
pool are proposed

The ground at present houses an unused biogas plant and an electric crematorium with a burial ground that has a drainage system adjoining it, and this has giving residents a tough time.

Affected by the stench that emanates form the ground, residents of complexes in the area -- Delmar Towers, Churchill Court, Arlington Court, Gulmohar Society and Apex Serene -- have been fighting for a resolution of the issue for seven years and have brought it to the notice of local leaders time and again.

Last year, the residents even filed a PIL over the issue.

"Due to PMC's improper town planning, the whole open space was being misused. The stench from the nullah and the biogas plant is causing severe health problems and the whole residential area has become a garbage dumping point," said Dr Firoze B, a resident.


The nullah which is to be widened and where a garden is proposed.
Pics/Krunal Gosavi

MiD DAY last year reported on how the PMC, instead of a recreational ground as mentioned in the town-planning of 1963, had set up a biogas plant and an electric crematorium in the residential area.

Residents now say if political leaders stick to their promise, then this will be for the first time in seven years after they settled down there that something beneficial would be coming their way.

"Though they (politicians) have promised to build a garden and a gymnasium, they have not decided on the crematorium," said Batul Faizi, a resident.

Newly elected corporator Prashant Jagtap said he was following up on the issue. "We'll widen the drainage line flowing through Bhairoba Nullah garden so that it doesn't mix with water. We will clean and beautify the place. We are considering converting the drainage into a recreational ground and constructing a gym and swimming pool on the ground instead of the dysfunctional biogas plant. At present, we haven't decided anything about the crematorium," Jagtap said.