By Ira Deshpande
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who also serves as the Guardian Minister for Pune, has started a new discussion about the city’s future. Mr. Pawar has suggested creating three new municipal corporations. Right now, the Pune district is divided between the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), and the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA), which is in charge of bigger planning and infrastructure projects. Pawar thinks this current setup is not enough to keep up with the city’s fast-growing population.
When talking about his plan, Pawar said that Pune’s growing suburbs need their own local government bodies to deal with their own problems.He mentioned that areas like Hinjewadi, which is an IT hub, and Chakan, which is an industrial area, as well as places like Wagholi, Manjri, Loni Kalbhor, Phursungi, and Uruli Devachi, should have their own municipal corporations. He believes this will help ensure that local infrastructure, like wider roads and better drainage, gets the attention and money it needs instead of being ignored because of the big responsibilities of the central government.
Pawar compared his idea to Mumbai, where different parts of the city are managed by separate municipal corporations, which makes the administration more efficient. He thinks that decentralizing power is important for improving services, especially in areas that are growing quickly and becoming more commercial, like Hinjewadi.
However, this news quickly got a response from Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who said something different. He didn’t completely reject the idea but questioned whether three new corporations were actually necessary. Fadnavis suggested that maybe just one more body would be enough. He also pointed out that PMRDA already takes care of development across much of the metropolitan area. He added that Pawar probably meant to suggest one more corporation, not three.