Pune civic body set to spend Rs 25 crore on green initiatives

PUNE: The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) plans to spend around Rs25 crore from corporate social responsibility funds on environment-related activities. Apart from funding programmes for environmental awareness, money will also be spent on works like procuring buckets for garbage disposal.
The civic body will undertake this initiative in association with the district collectorate.
“The union government’s guidelines have made it compulsory for property developers to divert at least 1% of their project cost towards corporate social responsibility (CSR). The funds that can be used for environmental activities in Pune district amount to around Rs150 crore. The civic body is seeking around Rs25 crore,” said municipal commissioner Saurabh Rao.
He added that the PMC will approach the district collectorate to get the funds. Many property developers use the CSR funds for the civic works near their construction site even though this does not help the larger public interest, a civic official said.
PMC has identified works, such as beautification of public places, footpath and divider repair, place-making projects, riverbed development and painting of walls, that require funds.
The civic body had sought to use CSR funds for initiatives and facilities earlier as well. Certain educational activities are funded using the money given by corporates. Even procurement of educational materials is done with the help of CSR funds.
The civic body is also contemplating getting aid from corporates to set up garbage processing units in bigger housing societies. The money will be used to resolve the problem of bulk garbage generators.