Shravan Hardikar Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Commissioner Shravan Hardikar, whose administration drew praise for handling of the Covid-19 situation, has been transferred. He will be replaced by Rajesh Patil, who belongs to the Odisha cadre.
Hardikar, who has been transferred as Inspector General of Revenue (IGR) in Pune, completed three and a half years of tenure. There were speculations about his transfer in February last year. However, due to Covid-19 pandemic, he was given an extension.
Before the Covid-19 cases started surging, the Hardikar administration was under fire from citizens for not ensuring adequate stock of water. Despite Pavana dam rising to its capacity in 2019, the administration refused to allow every day water supply system to be in force. Instead, it implemented alternate water supply system. “We might have drawn criticism but we took tough measures to ensure equitable distribution of water. In the end, we were proved right as protests disappeared and entire city got adequate amount of water every day,” said Hardikar as he prepared to leave the PCMC headquarters.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Hardikar said he got an opportunity to work on all departments and projects affecting the lives of citizens. “Be it Smart City, garbage disposal, sewage system, roads, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, Slum Rehabilitation or development of merged villages, the PCMC administration left no stone unturned to push the projects on stream and ensure their execution,” he said.
The outgoing PCMC chief said many of the projects were pending for years. “I must specially mention the water project. We worked hard on it and I am sure Pimpri-Chinchwad will not feel the shortage for next 30 years,” he said.
Praising the tenure of Hardikar, PCMC corporator Seema Savale said, “I think Hardikar has done three times better work than his predecessors. He has been an honest, straightforward and hard working commissioner. He has fast-tracked city’s development. Be it streamlining the water supply system or the garbage disposal system, the civic administration led by Hardikar did an outstanding job on these counts…”
Pimpri-Chinchwad NCP chief Sanjog Waghere said, “Hardikar as commissioner did a good job when it came to handling the Covid situation. Compared to other civic bodies in the state, Pimpri-Chinchwad civic body did not allow the situation to escalate.”
However, Waghere said the Hardikar administration seemed to be favouring the BJP corporators more and getting their projects going. “Our NCP corporators were given a raw deal by the civic administration,” Waghere added.