2011: A year of protests for Pune citizens

Like the rest of the country, the year 2011, would be memorable for Pune as the year of the protest. From April to December, many public-spirited citizens took to the streets to express solidarity with various causes.

The fight for a strong Lokpal, protests against the closed pipeline project in Maval and the angst of citizens for saving their hills dominated the public arena.

From the first week of April, coinciding with veteran Gandhian Anna Hazare’s fast for a strong Lokpal at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, hundreds of citizens took to the streets in Pune. It was again an enthusiastic Pune, which rose to the call of Hazare when he started his mammoth fast at Ramlila Maidan in August.

However, Pune failed to keep up its enthusiasm and the three-day protest organised by activists in city in the last week of December failed to evoke any response.

Maval firing

The peaceful and non-violent protests in August, were a sharp departure from the violence used by the Pune rural police to disperse the mob of farmers in Maval. Three people were killed and scores of others were injured when the police team led by the then superintendent of police, Sandeep Karnik, opened fire on farmers protesting against the proposed closed pipeline project in Maval.

Construction in BDP

The fact that Puneites love their hills was again proved when citizens rose up to protest against chief minister Prithviraj Chavan’s announcement of allowing 4% construction in the proposed biodiversity of park (BDP).

Former Union minister and Congress leader Mohan Dharia led the agitation. Ultimately, the state government had to eat crow and backtrack on its decision.