Posted by icarepune.com | May 12, 2025

Pune District, home to 9.4 million people, is a vibrant hub of culture, education, and innovation. Yet, beneath its charm lies a growing civic crisis—traffic jams that steal hours, rivers choked with sewage, water shortages, unsafe streets, and environmental decay. At icarepune.com (ICP), we believe Pune deserves better: a city where residents can walk safely, breathe clean air, and live sustainably. Join us as we unpack the major civic issues plaguing Pune District in 2025 and call on every Punekar to act for change.
1. Traffic Congestion: A Daily Nightmare
Pune’s roads are a battleground. With 4 million registered vehicles in 2024, up from 3.5 million in 2020, traffic congestion paralyzes areas like Sinhagad Road, Shivajinagar, Hadapsar, and Kharadi. Signal-free initiatives, like the Nagar Road rotary system introduced in March 2025, prioritize vehicles but leave pedestrians stranded, forcing long detours or risky crossings. Incomplete infrastructure—such as the delayed Shivajinagar flyover and Baner underpass—worsens jams, with residents losing 2–3 hours daily in traffic.web:0,5,12post:2
Resident Priya Deshmukh from Kothrud shared on X: “Stuck on Karve Road for 45 minutes again. No footpaths, no signals, just chaos!” The Pune Traffic Police’s push for signal-free corridors ignores the PMC Pedestrian Policy (2016), which mandates safe crossings. Meanwhile, illegal parking and encroachments choke narrow lanes, as noted by activist Harshad Abhyankar.
2. Water Shortages: A Thirsty District
Despite its proximity to dams like Khadakwasla, Pune District faces chronic water shortages. The 24×7 water supply project, promised for 2023, is delayed to 2027, leaving areas like Baner, Aundh, and Hinjewadi with erratic supply. In 2025, 60% of Pune city relies on tankers during summer, while rural talukas like Baramati and Daund receive as little as 20 liters per capita daily (LPCD), far below the WHO’s 50 LPCD standard.
Low groundwater levels, depleted by over-extraction (Pune’s groundwater table dropped 3 meters since 2015), and uneven rainfall—9,644 mm in Tamhini Ghat vs. 394 mm in Baramati—exacerbate the crisis. The PMC’s failure to curb leakages (30% of water lost) and prioritize rainwater harvesting frustrates residents. “We pay taxes, but water comes once a week,” tweeted a Hinjewadi resident.
3. Polluted Rivers: A Dying Lifeline
The Mutha, Mula, and Mula-Mutha rivers, Pune’s lifelines, are choking on sewage and waste. In 2024, the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) reported BOD levels of 30–50 mg/L in the Mutha (vs. 3 mg/L for bathing), with 30% of Pune’s 764 MLD sewage untreated. Concrete walls, like those from Hingne Khurd to Omkarashwar, trap pollutants, worsening the “foul smell” noted by Jeevitnadi volunteers. Encroachments (46% of the red flood line) and debris dumping further degrade rivers.
The Mula-Mutha River Rejuvenation Project, funded by JICA, aims to treat sewage by 2027, but progress is slow, with only 396 MLD capacity added by 2025. Activist Shailaja Deshpande laments, “Concrete walls don’t clean rivers—they hide the mess.” Flooding, triggered by high Khadakwasla releases (e.g., 49,324 cusecs in 2019), remains a risk, worsened by narrowed riverbeds.
4. Inadequate Public Transport: Stranded Commuters
Pune’s public transport system is buckling under demand. The Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) operates 1,800 buses for 1.2 million daily commuters, far below the needed 3,000. Overcrowding and irregular schedules push residents to private vehicles, fueling traffic and pollution. The Pune Metro, with Phase-I (Vanaz–Ramwadi) operational, covers only 12 km, and Phase-II (Kothrud–Kharadi) is delayed to 2026.
Residents like Anil Patil from Hadapsar tweeted, “Waited 40 minutes for a PMPML bus, then took an auto. Metro is too far!” The lack of last-mile connectivity and feeder buses limits Metro adoption. ICP’s push for pedestrian-friendly transit hubs is critical to easing this strain.
5. Pedestrian Safety: A Risky Walk
Walking in Pune is a gamble. Only 53% of roads have footpaths, often encroached by vendors or vehicles. Signal-free roads, like Nagar Road’s rotary system, remove pedestrian signals, forcing residents to walk over a kilometer to cross (e.g., Shastrinagar Chowk). Faded zebra crossings and non-functional signals endanger vulnerable groups—seniors, children, and the differently-abled. In 2022, 105 of 290 accidental deaths were pedestrians, a stark reminder of the crisis.
Civic activist Qaneez Sukhrani, who filed a PIL in 2024, said, “PMC ignores pedestrians’ rights. Crossings and ramps are absent.” The PMC Pedestrian Policy (2016) remains unimplemented, with signal-free initiatives contradicting its goals. ICP’s campaign against such measures demands safe, accessible streets.
6. Environmental Degradation: A Threat to Livability
Pune District faces multiple environmental challenges:
Flooding: Talukas like Pune city, Mulshi, and Shirur see annual floods, worsened by river encroachments and concrete walls (e.g., Hingne Khurd–Omkarashwar). The Central Water and Power Research Station warned of a 5-foot flood level increase due to narrowed riverbeds.
Landslides: Heavy rains (9,644 mm in Tamhini Ghat, 2024) trigger landslides in Velha and Mulshi, threatening lives.
Air Pollution: Pune’s AQI often exceeds 100 in winter, driven by vehicular emissions and construction dust, impacting pedestrian health.
Garbage Mismanagement: With 2,100 tonnes of daily waste, only 60% is processed, leaving open dumps in areas like Hadapsar and Undri.
The Mula-Mutha Riverfront Development Project, criticized for prioritizing beautification over ecology, risks further degradation, as noted by the Ecological Society in 2018. ICP advocates for green, pedestrian-friendly urban planning to counter these threats.
Pune Deserves Better
Pune’s civic issues—traffic, water scarcity, polluted rivers, poor transport, unsafe streets, and environmental decay—threaten its livability. At ICP, we’re committed to a Pune where residents can walk safely, drink clean water, and breathe fresh air. These challenges demand collective action, not just promises from the PMC or state government. By understanding and addressing these issues, we can reclaim our district’s vibrancy.
Take Action with ICP
Punekars, it’s time to act! Join ICP’s fight for a sustainable, people-first Pune:
Sign Our Petition: Demand pedestrian safety and river restoration at icarepune.com/petition.
Join Our Clean-Up Drive: Volunteer for our Mutha River clean-up on June 15, 2025, with Jeevitnadi at icarepune.com/events.
Attend Our Workshop: Learn about sustainable urban solutions on June 1, 2025, at Sambhaji Garden.
Share This Post: Amplify our message with #PuneForPeople and #icarepune on social media.
Together, we can fix Pune’s civic crisis—one step, one voice at a time. Let’s make our district a model of livability and resilience!

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