River Rejuvenation Project Receives Environmental Clearance, Activists Condemn It

The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has received the environmental clearance (EC) for the River Rejuvenation Project (RRP) of Mula, Mutha and Mula-Mutha rivers from the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA).

Earlier, the civic body had submitted a proposal to rejuvenate the rivers. However, SEIAA has denied permission for the project and asked the civic body to resubmit the proposal after getting permission from the Central Water and Power Research Station (CWPRS). After the proposal was resubmitted, SEIAA gave EC for the project.

Meanwhile, the approval of the project is being slammed by many activists and residents. On the other hand, the PMC is asserting that this project will not cause flooding and will bring life back to these rivers which are under pressure through high rate of urb.sation and lack of care.

Sarang Yadwadkar, an activist said, “No way this project will bring back the life of these rivers besides it will only concretise the floodplains. It is a fraudulent act, the civic body consulted the secretary of the water department Avinash Surve, who in a conference mentioned that this project would lead to flooding and later on this very same person recommended this project for approval. The EC was deferred on November 7, 2023, on technical and environmental grounds and now it has been approved on what grounds? We wrote letters and put forward our say before SEIAA which has not been heard and given due consideration. In the name of beautification, the natural greenery is reducing, depletion of groundwater, desertion and the width of the river are also getting reduced which will cause floods and that too not of clean water but black sewage.”

A resident, Jaideep Baphna took to X (formerly Twitter) and wrote, “PMC same stubbornness as yours, plan for unnatural riverfront developments along with climate change flooded Spain.” “Is clean natural river not a priority over concretisation of floodplains?” asked Baphna.

Prajakta Mahajan, volunteer, Pune River Revival – a group of citizens and org.sations to save rivers said, “I fear that if this project proceeds, it will become yet another irreversible mistake. We stand to lose lakhs of trees, the riparian zone, and countless forms of life that depend on it—losses that cannot be undone. Increasing concretisation is already turning our cities into heat islands. Newly planted trees, which often have low survival rates, cannot replace a mature riparian ecosystem. Moreover, trees that grow near a river cannot simply be relocated elsewhere.”

“There are better and more sustainable ways to develop the riverfront without such devastating impacts. Approval alone does not make this approach the right one, especially in its current form,” added Mahajan.

Speaking to The Free Press Journal, Additional Commissioner, PMC, Prithviraj BP, said, “The River Rejuvenation Project has been granted the EC from the state, and two phases of the work are underway. 60 per cent work of the first phase and 30 per cent work of the second phase have already been completed, and the work orders for the third phase have been issued after getting the EC. We have a detailed project plan, which includes maintaining flood lines, streams, and river ecology. This project is not going to cause more flooding; this is all misinformation. We will be appointing an agency to create awareness regarding this project. All the scientific queries will be addressed, and the general public will be informed and would spread awareness about the project.”