Club Empowered Addresses Civic and Environmental Issues

PRLog (Press Release) – Oct 02, 2008 – Club Empowered, a select forum for reputed corporates and dynamic professionals hosted its second meeting at The  Residency Club, Pune recently. The focus of the meeting was the concern voiced by members  on  various infrastructure and developmental issues concerning their city.

The Pune Municipal Corporation nominated its representative Mr Vinay Deshpande ( Head of the JNNURM Cell – Pune ) to speak to the select gathering. Presenting a different view point was the second guest speaker  Ms Vinita Deshmukh an award winning, pro activist and pro public journalist (currently the Editor of Intelligent Pune,) who  touched upon various public issues and gave us an  in depth view of the DP Baner Balewadi plan.

A major aspect discussed by Mr Vinay Deshpande was the  road development plan under JNNURM ( Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission ) where the PMC has proposed to construct new flyovers to ease traffic congestion at crucial junctions of the city. The flyover at Bund Garden Road will be in the direction of Gunjan Theatre and will be 1.5 kms Long he said while the flyovers near RTO and Engineering College Chowk would have a length of 250 meters each. Deshpande said that he was aware of the problems the citizens would be facing during the construction period but the PMC was  taking measures to avoid problems by appointing good implementing agencies.

He also mentioned how the PMC was making an effort to keep Pune pot hole free. One such measure was to have a dedicated pipeline for the BSNL cables. “ However there are some limitations we are facing such as narrow strips where it may not be possible to execute this ……. ’’ He also mentioned the construction of subways for easy movement of vehicles. Another interesting point of discussion  at the forum was the execution of the BRTS ( Bus Rapid Transit System ) in the city.

Vinita whose forte is environment, heritage social and civic issues, Right to Information and human interest, while touching upon various  civic issues chose to focus on the Development plan of Baner – Balewadi and gave the members an in depth analysis of the same.

She mentioned that under the Development plan of Baner Balewadi land worth Rs 1500 crores had been de reserved for residential construction.For this even the space for a fire brigade station and  a four kilometer road of 18 metre width had been removed and changed into a residential zone. She urged members to understand the entire concept of DP threadbare and said the DP should not interest “ just experts but every citizen as well . If youngsters have to live as healthy citizens and if middle aged and senior citizens have to leave a healthy city for their children and grandchildren, then each one of us must be concerned about the DP. ’’
She further enlightened the members on the Green Pune movement and urged members and citizens of Pune to support and participate whole heartedly in it.



Ms Shabnam Asthana – Director of Empowered Solutions (the Public Relations and Communications company which has launched this forum) in her concluding  remarks commented that  ‘information is power, and empowered people have the freedom of choice and actions. ’’ She said that she sincerely believed that for a healthy co existence, a  two way flow of information from the government to the citizens and from the citizens to the government is critical for responsible citizenship and furthers  responsive and accountable governance.

The deliberations during the question and answer session sought a long term sustainable approach to the issue of city improvement.



This meeting reiterated  the interdependence of the corporate sector and urban governance. Corporates as well as individuals seek an improvement in the quality of life of which physical infrastucture is an indispensable and critical component.