Aditya Thackeray, the former Tourism Minister, asserted that the scarcity of river beds is not a global phenomenon but rather a localized issue within the jurisdiction of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). Thackeray attributed the problem to the contractors employed by the PMC, who engage in tree-cutting activities, subsequently causing the rivers to shrink in size.
Thackeray took to Twitter to share his response to the ongoing riverbank improvement project at Bund Garden, tagging the Dr Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary's account. He expressed deep concern over the detrimental effects of the current activities taking place on the riverbed. Thackeray emphasized that the narrowing of the river, with a reduction of approximately 75 meters, would lead to significant future challenges and complications.
“River Front Destruction going on in Pune, to help contractors destroy a beautiful city. While cities are widened and deepened globally, here the Pune Municipal Corporation is making the river narrow, and river bank concrete,” Aditya Thackeray tweeted.