20160208 India Fire at BDP site opens ownership can of worms
India Feb 07 2016 “Other”
Dead : dead 0 or unknown Burnout : 0 or unknown Injured : injured 0 or unknown
Fire at BDP site opens ownership can of worms
Updated: 2016-02-08-08:48
The residents of Baner-Pashan Link Road area have demanded round-the-clock surveillance of nearby hills, the site of a notified biodiversity park, where a large fire damaged several acres of green cover last Sunday.
A group of local residents made multiple trips up and down the hill – buckets of water and mud in hands – to douse the fire. No help was forthcoming from the fire or forest departments, they said.
By the time the blaze was brought under control, scores of trees and shrubs atop the hill were charred beyond saving. According to the residents, miscreants regularly start fires on the hills.
Last year, residents had complained of people misusing the hills for dumping garbage, late-night drinking and card-playing sessions, and even by couples looking for privacy. With the area currently stuck in a long-pending legal tangle, it’s the city’s green cover and the rich fauna inhabiting the park which is suffering.
Ravindra Sinha, member of the Baner Pashan Link Road Vikas Samiti, said “The area of the proposed biodiversity park is open and accessible for all. All sorts of people access it without any surveillance. Fires destroy trees and saplings planted by citizens and environment groups. It’s unfortunate that there is no clarity about who is responsible for the upkeep of this nature-rich area.”
Local resident U Anand said that as soon as they heard about the fire, they called 101 to seek help from the fire department. “But those answering calls gave multiple excuses (not to come). Later we were told that the hills fall under the jurisdiction of the forest department, so we should approach them for assistance. Our city cannot become smart if its lungs continue to burn like this,” Anand said.
Chief fire officer Prashant Ranpise, however, said the Pune fire brigade received no call from Baner. “In case of a blaze at a great height, we can connect multiple pipes to reach the affected area. The residents must check if their calls were connected to our counterparts in Pimpri Chinchwad instead. The hills are under the jurisdiction of the forest department, which has its own fire-fighting set-up. Sometimes, they take our assistance,” he added.
Senior forest department officials, denied any role or authority in the maintenance of the site. WThe chief conservator of forests passed the buck onto the social forestry department, those in the latter brushed off all questions on the issue. But Sarfaraz Khan, deputy director of the social forestry department, said, “We don’t own any land in that area, nor is such a thing in the offing.”
Legal issues since 2007 have prevented any sort of upkeep of the BDP site, officials from the civic trees department said. Pune Municipal Corporation tree officer Ashok Ghorpade said, “There is a dispute over the ownership of the hills. We had tried to put up a compound wall some time ago, but it was stalled because of a stay order from the court. We cannot do anything till the matter is resolved.”
Web Source: THE TIMES OF INDIA
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/Fire-at-BDP-site-opens-ownership-can-of-worms/articleshow/50895808.cms