Statues installed at prominent locations in Pune city gather dust, residents demand better upkeep
These statutes are installed at Karve Road, Yerawada, Kasba Peth, Central Peth areas, Kothrud, Mandai, and Shivajinagar with funds from the state government, donations and under corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative
The statues in memory of prominent icons and leaders installed at key locations in the city are covered under a thick speck of dust with neither social organisations nor the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) paying any attention towards its upkeep.
These statutes are installed at Karve Road, Yerawada, Kasba Peth, Central Peth areas, Kothrud, Mandai, and Shivajinagar with funds from the state government, donations and under corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative.
According to locals and activists, the statues are cleaned once a year at the time of birth or death anniversary celebrations of the respective personalities and later left in the lurch with no cleaning.
Sanjeev Khedkar, a resident of Kasba Peth, said, “The statues are lying under thick speck of dust and lakhs of rupees have been spent on them. Neither public representatives nor the government is bothered about their cleanliness, it is just a waste of money.”
As per norms, ward offices are responsible for cleaning and upkeep of these statues.
Sandeep Bhosale, citizen activist from Yerawada, said, “It is expected that the statues of important national personalities are to be cleaned every fifteen days. Unfortunately, these spots are not cleaned.”
“We have seen that some people empty huge quantities of foodgrains to be meant for pigeon feeding which leads to marring the beauty of these statues. When crores of rupees are being spent on installing the statues then why no care is being taken by the authorities,” he said.
Vivek Velankar, president, Sajak Nagrik Manch, said, “When the authorities don’t care about cleaning then they must stop installing more statues as it amounts to disrespect to the great personalities. The entire responsibility lies with the PMC in this regard.”
Harshada Shinde, executive engineer, heritage cell, said, “The sweeping and cleaning activity has to be undertaken by the respective ward offices as per the PMC directives ”
