Pune, 14 July 2025: A renewed demand to divide the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) into two separate municipal bodies has been made by several former city leaders, including ex-mayors, deputy mayors, former standing committee chairpersons, and past district council presidents. This proposal, which has been under discussion for many years, was revisited in a recently held seminar organized by former mayors Ankush Kakade and Sanjay Balgude.
The seminar witnessed the participation of leaders across political parties who previously held significant posts in the municipal and district governance structure. The attendees unanimously supported the proposal for bifurcation, emphasizing the growing administrative and infrastructural challenges faced by the PMC due to its ever-expanding jurisdiction.
Pune Municipal Corporation was originally established in 1950. The city saw its first major expansion in 1997. Later, in 2017, 34 villages were merged into the municipal limits, although two of them were subsequently excluded. This continuous expansion has stretched the administrative limits of the civic body.
While the geographical area under PMC continues to grow, the number of civic staff, officers, and the infrastructure required to service these areas has not increased proportionally. As a result, many of the newly merged villages remain underdeveloped and neglected, lacking basic civic amenities. This places a significant burden on the municipal administration and results in a disparity in development across the city.
The attendees agreed that in order to ensure fair governance and equal distribution of civic services, it is necessary to split the PMC into two separate entities. Notable participants in the discussion included Prashant Jagtap, Rajlaxmi Bhosale, Shrikant Shirole, Jaalindar Kamthe, Ashwini Kadam, Neeta Pardeshi, Shiva Mantri, Virendra Kirad, Aba Bagul, Subhash Jagtap, Ujjwal Keskar, Nitin Kadam, Pravin Tupe, and Narendra Vyavahare.