Over one hectare of land in Warje's Smriti Van has suffered damage in the past 15 days due to multiple fire incidents, raising concern among forest department officials. The forest department suspects the involvement of some people from a nearby slum pocket in these incidents.
Assistant Conservator of Forests Mahadev Mohite said, "A few years ago, we had removed encroachments, and 7-8 people were evicted from the area. Now there's a conflict between the locals and forest officials. The slum dwellers residing near the forest belt smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol throughout the day here. These people often set fire to the forest as an act of revenge. Recently, 5-6 people were caught performing anti-social activities in the forest."
"We have increased patrolling in the area. Although we are currently short-staffed, we will deploy more personnel to protect the forest. We are cutting the grass that has grown long due to the extended monsoon and plan to complete this work in the next 15 days. The trees were only partially burnt in the fire and could be revived with water."
In June 2020, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) declared the urban forest, also known as Smriti Van, as the country's role model for establishing a green belt under public-private partnership.
Smriti Van has been developed by the state forest department, Pune citizens, and a number of corporate organisations and their charitable arms, with contributions from the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). Before becoming an urban forest, Warje Hill was a barren land, dumped with garbage and full of encroachments.
