'We Are Gasping For Air': Residents Of Pune's Mohamadwadi Sound Alarm Over Rising Air Pollution

The residents of Pune's Mohamadwadi, particularly school children, are facing health risks due to air pollution near D-Mart, Royale Heritage Mall and Vibgyor School on NIBM Road. Residents claimed that the frequent movement of concrete mixer trucks is exacerbating the problem, leaving behind cement residue that hardens and turns into dust, damaging the newly constructed tarmac road.

Danish Khan, a resident of NIBM, said, "I've raised multiple complaints, including the latest one (token number WA188037), but the issue remains unresolved. There's so much pollution in the area due to constant construction work going on. I request authorities repair the damaged road urgently and regular cleaning be enforced to prevent pollution."

Daljeet Goraya, another resident, added, "Kids are facing several health issues, due to continuous construction work going on in this area. As a secretary of the Ganga Kingston Society, residents have reached out to me as their school-going kids are suffering due to air pollution. The authorities should come up with strict guidelines to curb air pollution. It is difficult to breathe here, we are gasping for fresh air."

Ashok Mehendale, also a resident, further said, "Deep cleaning is being done in the area and a lot of building materials like mud, cement, stones and concrete have been dumped in front of the D-Mart. Also, the road there is very steep so we have submitted the proposal to the PMC for reducing the steepness of the road. We are following up with authorities to get it done."

Speaking to The Free Press Journal, Sandip Dipake, Junior Engineer, Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), said, "Due to the ongoing construction work, the Ready-Mix Concrete (RMC) trucks pass very frequently in the area, and the road near the Royal Heritage Mall is a bit uphill and when these RMC trucks move uphill some material falls off from the trucks and gets hardened, which causes a lot of dust. We do the cleaning every 10 days, and the roads in the area are not in bad condition at all."