Chandrakant Patil is pushing for a retaining wall project in Pune, facing resistance from local MLAs over tender costs and quality concerns
Recently, Murlidhar Mohol, the Minister of State for Civil Aviation, had a meeting with all the MLAs at the PMC headquarters. It seems some BJP MLAs are not happy with the tendering process and want to scrap it. But Patil thinks they should just get on with it since the tenders are already done and under budget.
The Maharashtra government had set aside ₹200 crore for this project to build retaining walls along the Ambil Odha and other nullahs to help with flooding. But, there’s been a hold-up because of some political back-and-forth and a lack of action from the Pune Municipal Corporation.
Ashwini Kadam from the NCP has even brought this up with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, asking him to step in. He pointed out that the government had promised to tackle flood issues and that the work should be done before the monsoon hits.
It’s a bit of a mess, really. The tender process is complete, but some MLAs are still questioning it. An anonymous officer mentioned that they’re waiting for the state government to release the funds before moving forward.
In 2019, the Ambil Odha overflowed and caused a lot of damage in Pune, so there’s a real need for these walls. They’ve identified several flood-prone areas that need attention, but with all this back-and-forth, it’s hard to see when things will actually get started.