Road-widening SOP in development in Pune

Citizens and tree activists are in the process of drafting a standard operating procedure aimed at ensuring environmentally sustainable practices during the widening of roads bordered by trees. Advocate Rajendra Kumar, helping citizens in drafting the standard operating procedure (SOP), said, ?Development projects in Pune, particularly road widening and Metro construction, have led to significant felling of trees. This has sparked disputes among the urban local authority, planning authority and concerned citizens, alarmed by the diminishing green cover. There is a lack of understanding among both citizens and officials despite laws for sustainable development existing.? Kumar said the local urban body lacked a standardised systematic approach to execute development works, resulting in potential damage to urban ecology. Advocate Manasi Thakare, also involved in drafting the SOP, said, ?It is being developed following international standards, specifically the global standard ISO 9001:2015.? She said: ?This approach includes identifying some key elements like sources of inputs (government authorities), activities (tree felling in this case), outputs [widening roads sustainably as per Indian Road Congress guidelines] and the receivers of outputs (citizens), among other things. Each of these elements requires ?control and check points?, which are currently lacking.?