By Sunita D
It’s been 40 years since Punekars have been rallying to save Vetal Tekdi – the city’s tallest hill, a green lung teeming with trees, birdsong, and fresh air. This resistance legacy is now being put to the test once again.
The endangered urban forest is in danger of being cut through by three projects: the Bal Bharati-Paud Phata (BBPP) road, twin tunnels, and a passenger capacity mass transport route. Experts caution that irreparable harm will result from the loss of at least 7,000 trees, disturbance of groundwater recharge zones, and fragmentation of wildlife corridors.
Members of the civic organisation Vetal Tekdi Bachao Kruti Samiti petitioned the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) in March 2024 to put a stop to the BBPP road project.
A year later, in February 2025, the Bombay High Court decided in a suit filed by Nagrik Chetna Manch that the PMC had to get licenses if the project needed approval from the Environment or Forest Departments. The court also instructed the appropriate body to determine if the road actually serves the public interest and whether the site is “deemed forest”.
The Supreme Court received a Special Leave Petition against this order in April 2025 from citizen activists Sumita Kale and Sushma Daate. The issue has not yet been resolved.
Following a site visit by a CEC member in April 2024 and the March 2024 application, the committee wrote to the Maharashtra Chief Secretary in May 2025 to direct that no work be done in “deemed forest” areas along the proposed 2.1-kilometre route. It is noted that the construction there would be against the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Rules, 2023, and the Supreme Court’s historic 1996 T N Godavarman v. Union of India ruling.
“The entire tunnel project is a complete farce”, according to Panchvati resident Pradeep Ghumare. “Instead of reducing traffic or speeding up commutes, it poses a threat to the destruction of Vetal Tekdi. Tens of thousands of trees have been planted here over the last 35 years by local residents, kids, the forest department, and even the PMC. If the project proceeds, all of this work will be undone,” he concluded.