The Maharashtra government has given a significant push to Pune's long-planned river rejuvenation initiative by approving the transfer of over 52,851 square metres of land for riverfront development near Bund Garden and for a sewage treatment plant at Botanical Garden.

The approval, issued on Thursday (14 May), covers government land situated between the Sangamwadi Bridge and Bund Garden Bridge, forming one of seven stretches identified under the Mula-Mutha River development plan.

The land will be handed over to the Pune Municipal Corporation free of cost, without any revenue liability or occupancy charges, according to Mayor Manjusha Nagpure.

The allotment includes 11,015 sqm of riverbed land within the river channel, 34,128 sqm from the Botanical Garden at Mundhwa, and 7,708 sqm from the Women, Child, and Correctional Home at Mundhwa.

"The project is entirely in the public interest, with its primary objectives being to enhance the river's flood-carrying capacity, treat sewage water before releasing purified water into the river, and develop a 'Green Belt' and jogging tracks along the riverbanks," said Mayor Nagpure, while thanking Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for the decision.

The land transfer also resolves a key bottleneck that had stalled the 10 MLD Botanical Garden sewage treatment plant since 2023.

Under the broader JICA-funded pollution abatement project, 11 STPs with a combined capacity of 396 million litres per day are being built across the city.