In the wake of the ongoing row over the appointment of consultants for the 24X7 water supply plan for the city, municipal commissioner Praveensinh Pardeshi clarified his stand that the proposed scheme was necessary as it is for the benefit of Pune. Addressing media persons on Thursday, the commissioner said, "This is an opportunity to bring a solution to the erratic water supply, which should not be missed.' Those who wanted to approach the court regarding the appointment of consultants for the project were free to do so, Pardeshi added.

In order to stop the damage to the environment by cutting trees during various festivals, Mayor Rajlaxmi Bhosale on Wednesday said the civic administration would initiate action against those selling branches of trees in the city.

Over 2000 saplings of rare medicinal species were planted at a program mme at Fort Jadhavgadh on Saturday. More than 200 volunteers of Senior Citizens Club, Lokmanya Nagar, Sadhana Vidyalaya, Hadapsar, employees of Fort Jadhavgadh Hotel took part in the project .

City incinerates 1 tonne bio-medical waste a day Nearly one tonne of bio-medical waste is generated and disposed of in Pune each day. While the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has outsourced the activity to a private firm Sun Enviro Limited to collect the waste and dispose it at the incineration facility at Kailash crematorium, efforts are now underway to woo over 6,000 small dispensaries to join the scheme. According to Piyush Solanki, assistant general manager of Sun Enviro, "so far, only 250 dispensaries and clinics have been registered.'

The longevity of a banyan tree is often compared with at least seven life spans of a human being and hence women worship this tree for the well-being of their family, especially husband. These days, with more and more women working, there is no time to do the "pheras" around the banyan tree. Hence, small time vendors chop branches and sell them at the market which are bought by women and worshipped.

Conceding that accidents on the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) route were taking place due to lack of proper road-crossing facilities for pedestrians, Municipal Commissioner Praveensinh Pardeshi at the general body meeting on Monday said that once the frequency of buses plying on the track increases to one bus every five minutes from the present 10-15 minutes, it would automatically deter other vehicles from using the BRTS route and pedestrians from carelessly crossing the roads. He also said that the BRTS pilot project would be completed by December.

Over 1000 local and indigenous plants were planted by entire Kumar Builders family on in the presence of several dignitaries like Mayor Rajalakshmi Bhosale, Municipal Commissioner Praveensinh Pardeshi and Prakash Thosare, director of Social Forestry. They all took an oath for environment protection.

Professional help sought for data collection; findings to be part of PMC's Environment Status Report While it is no secret that the unprecedented and unplanned growth of the city has put severe pressure on its various resources, for the first time the Pune Municipal Corporation is coming forward to actually study and assess the impact of the damage on at least one critical area

Sourav Ganguly chief guest, host Subroto Roy missing On the occasion of World Environment Day, Aamby valley city, conducted a plantation drive at Aamby valley near Lonavla. As a part of the event, over 2500 trees were planted by residents of the township. Sourav Ganguly was the chief guest for the event.

Volkswagen India celebrated the 36th observance of World Environment Day through a tree plantation ceremony at its upcoming manufacturing facility at Chakan, Pune. Volkswagen employees planted 250 trees to encourage green surroundings at the facility. Mr. Joerg Mueller, President, Volkswagen India also participated in the initiatives. Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Mueller said, "Globally, we have been constantly working on energy efficiency and making our business more environment friendly.'

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