PUNE: “By making our children clean beaches and streets in the name of cleanliness campaign, we are imposing a penalty on them. We litter and dirty the environment and punish our children for cleaning it. We have to take responsibility and stop being selfish,” said Maharashtra Environment Minister Aaditya Thackeray.
Policy Roadmap for ‘Making Pune Metropolitan Region Carbon Neutral by 2030’ was released in the city on Thursday where Thackeray was present.
The policy roadmap is the mission of Pune International Centre (PIC) for making the Pune metropolitan region ‘Net Carbon Neutral by 2030’.
The roadmap is a strategic plan, research and suggestions developed in collaboration with experts in Pune as the Climate Collective Pune (CCP) group under the umbrella of PIC.
Thackeray said that the cities in Maharashtra need to set up mechanisms and technology to fight pollution and garbage efficiently.
“Mumbai in 2017 produced 10,000 metric tonnes of unsegregated waste every day. We went and told all ‘bulk generators of waste’ like hotels and other establishments that they would have to dispose of their trash if it is not segregated. That worked and the number came down to 6,500 metric tonnes in just a year. Pune has the potential to do that and it can achieve its aim of becoming carbon neutral by 2025,” he said.
Speaking on the occasion, Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) Commissioner Vikram Kumar stated, “In Pune, 10 per cent people use cars and 35 per cent use two-wheelers who will soon shift to four-wheelers. The Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) development is very much essential in Pune. The city also needs bypass roads for traffic which is just passing through the city.”
Speaking about his plans for the ministry that he has recently taken up, Thackeray said that he wants to make it more people-based and proactive. “Let’s keep meeting. We don’t have time for five-year plans. Set a date for future discussion and have reviews and meetings every month to achieve our ecological goals. At present, we have been promising to set up wifi-hotspots in the city but in the future, we’ll have to promise setting up oxygen hotspots. We need to develop better education, health and waste management systems and make use of renewable energy rather than concretising the city. Let’s have medium-term goals and keep working on them,” he said.
Thackeray stated that the State government is keen on working on five major schemes in the next five years which will include urban town planning, disbursal of traffic management, solid waste management, urban forest planning and electric transport. “We have to adapt to climate change and built systems to counter it,” Thackeray added.