Pune eco activists to hold ‘My River, My Valentine’ to clean river, oppose RFD today

Pune: Environmental enthusiasts will organize ‘My River, My Valentine' in order to promote river-cleaning exercise among people and oppose the riverfront development project (RFD) on Saturday.As per the organisers, citizens will clean the river stretch near Bhide Bridge in Deccan from 7am onwards on Saturday.
The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) is planning to start the first phase, a completed 1.5km-long stretch in Sangamwadi, of the project on Feb 15. According to PMC officials, the project spans on the entire 44km length of the river in Pune. In the initial phase, work on a 3.7km stretch between Sangamwadi and Bund Garden was prioritised. Currently, approximately 90% of the work on this section is complete, with the 1.5 km Sangamwadi portion now finished in all respects."The priority should be reducing river pollution. The administration and people should make efforts to clean the river first. The riverfront development project, which is just for show, should not be promoted without clean rivers," said Shyamla Desai, an environmentalist.Expansion of the RFD project is already underway on other segments, including a 5.5km stretch from Bund Garden to Mundhwa and an 8.1km stretch between Aundh and Balewadi. Adjacent to the riverfront, the PMC plans to develop various civic amenities, including theme parks, said PMC officials."The quality of the river water has reduced drastically. The aim should be to improve river quality and not only beautification of the river banks," said Shailaja Deshpande of Jeevitnadi organisation, which works for river restoration.As per the PMC officials, the project was completed with due process. "The expert committees gave their report about the project. It passed all the tests in the legal battle. So we are going ahead with it. The administration aims to provide access to the river for citizens with recreational facilities," said a senior official of PMC.