Pune Polls: Balewadi Residents Make Wine Shop Closure A Voting Issue

Residents of Silicon Valley and Sanskruti Home societies in Pune's Balewadi area have said that they will vote only for a candidate who assures the removal of the wine shop operating at Mamta Chowk, highlighting serious concerns over safety, children’s well-being, and declining property values.

The residents claim that the wine shop is functioning within a radius of about 150 metres of three schools, a situation they say violates basic norms meant to protect school-going children. Despite repeated complaints, the shop continues to operate, leading to growing anger among locals.

The residents even placed posters on the gate of the society building, mentioning that they will vote only for candidates who remove the operational wine shop from the area.

Anant Bhukele Patil, a resident, said, “Drunken individuals are frequently seen quarrelling on the road, getting into fights, and even consuming alcohol openly on the streets. In the evenings and late at night, antisocial activities increase. People shout, hoot, and create a nuisance, making it unsafe for families. The presence of the wine shop has negatively impacted property rates. Many homeowners are struggling to rent out their apartments as tenants are reluctant to move into the area due to the presence of the wine shop and the disturbances it creates. No family wants to live here because of the constant trouble. Our property value has gone down.”

Dilpreet Kaur, another resident, said, “My husband and I shifted to this area one year back, and now we regret living here because we have a kid and we don’t want him exposed to such nuisance. It will have a bad impact on his growth and development. School-going children are regularly exposed to scenes of drinking and fighting, which leaves a bad impression on young minds. This is not the environment we want our children to grow up in. We want this shop to be removed from the area.”

Meanwhile, the residents of Balewadi have formed a residents’ group named the Balewadi Welfare Federation. They have charted out their demands for the upcoming PMC elections. The manifesto released by the federation mentions that the removal of the wine shop at Mamta Chowk is one of the strongest demands. The manifesto highlights that public drinking during daylight hours has led to harassment of women and schoolchildren, frequent altercations, and a negative impact on property values in the area. Residents have also demanded that all street lights across residential and commercial areas be made fully functional, along with the installation of CCTV cameras at key junctions and vulnerable spots. They stressed the need to ensure that 24/7 emergency helplines are operational and regular police surveillance is maintained in problem-prone areas.

In the manifesto, the federation has also demanded to end reliance on water tankers by laying new pipelines, preventing monsoon flooding by clearing encroachments, expanding Balewadi’s public transport with additional bus routes, creating designated parking spaces with signs and road markings to reduce congestion and inconvenience, establishing more electric vehicle charging stations to support sustainable mobility, etc.