The Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) has launched an initiative to rejuvenate the Pavana River, which flows through the heart of the city over a 24.40-kilometre stretch. The project aims to reduce water pollution, control flooding and restore the river’s natural ecosystem. However, the residents have mixed reactions, with some claiming that this is just another RFD project.
Jaydeep Baphna, a resident of Deccan, said, "These promises are identical to those made under the PMC's Riverfront Development (RFD) initiative. They had used the same verbiage and included it in the RFD plan documents. They had promised to develop only using natural materials. Sadly, these are all copies of interventions that the West did decades ago on its rivers. The West regrets developing RFD and is now actually trying to reverse it, but the city has gone too close to the river after the RFD, so they can only do minimal reversal. Despite this, we are copying the Western model. In doing that, PMC destroyed the riparian ecology in Pune, and now the same will be done by the PCMC."
He added, "Rivers and riverbanks evolved over millions of years. They are self-cleaning, and the riparian ecology is self-healing. We don't need to do anything, except clean the water. But such interventions involve unnatural concretisation and paving. Check the sections of the PMCs RFD that are complete. Can anyone enter the water, let alone drink the water?"
PCMC has also appointed HCP Design and Management Pvt. Ltd., a consultancy firm, which conducted a detailed survey of the entire river stretch. Based on this, a comprehensive project report was prepared, which mapped out measures for pollution control and flood mitigation. Additionally, the hydrology and hydraulics report for the project has been developed by the Government of India's Central Water and Power Research Station (CWPRS), Pune.
PCMC had submitted an application for environmental clearance to the Government of Maharashtra on December 10, 2019. After a series of meetings by the State Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC-3) and the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA), final approval was granted during the SEIAA meeting held on July 7, 2025. According to PCMC's Chief Engineer, Sanjay Kulkarni, following the receipt of necessary funding from the state and central governments, a tendering process will be initiated, and physical work on the river rejuvenation will commence. "The project is expected to play a crucial role in bank protection, preventing soil erosion, enhancing biodiversity, creating natural habitats for birds and aquatic life and overall restoring the river's ecological balance," he said.
Prajakta Mahajan, a volunteer at Pune River Revival, said, "77% of the Pavana RFD budget is allocated to embankments, earthwork and promenades. Calling this a river-cleaning or pollution-reduction project is highly misleading. Like the Pune RFD, it will destroy riparian zones rich in biodiversity and reclaim land for commercial use. For our well-being, we need at least eight fully grown trees per person in the city, but we don’t even have two. Cutting down thousands of old-growth trees in the name of development is nothing short of disastrous for the city."
Poornima Agarkar, an environmentalist, added, "So as per the message from the government.....the riverfront plan is going to help the river to get clean and green. However, we as conscious and informed citizens have seen the work that is happening along the river. Care is not taken to conserve existing ecosystems rich in biodiversity and contribute to carbon sequestration. The river is seen in isolation instead of as an ecosystem in itself. Channelling the river, putting concrete over the banks of the river and most importantly, not cleaning the water flowing in the river, is dangerous."
