No Respite

The Pune Municipal Corporation was quick to come out of denial mode and admit that its conservancy staff was dying prematurely by the scores battling dirt and unclogging dirty manholes. But the confession is not the end of the troubles of the staff that cleans the city. The pace at which realty expansion is taking place will ensure there’s no reprieve for them. The frenetic pace also allows the builders to engage in rampant violation of rules and regulations, two instances having come to the fore only a month back.

What they Say

The land scams rocking Pune are a result of the confusion and lack of accountability in the PMC. It’s the same when it comes to roads and infrastructure. As for the escalating prices, Pune’s prices have gone through the roof because of the fault of the Central Government that has allowed FDI in realty.

Cyrus Poonawalla Chairman and Managing Director, Serum Institute of India

The key point for Pune is that there is no single ownership or responsible person for the city’s growth and certainly no vision on how the city should be different in the future. What we have in Pune is a fragmented responsibility between the mayor, the municipal commissioner, the divisional commissioner, the police commissioner and the MP.

Naushad Forbes, Managing Director, Forbes Marshall

We will increase development charge collection from real estate from Rs 200 crore last year to over Rs 400 crore in the current fiscal. The results will be visible in city roads by June 2008

... contd.