RTI Reveals 90% Vacancies in PMC Garden Department; Green Pune Mission Faces Major Challenge
Pune, 14th July 2026: Nearly 90% of the sanctioned posts of Garden Inspectors and Garden Mistris (supervisors) in the Pune Municipal Corporation’s (PMC) Garden Department are lying vacant, raising serious concerns over the city’s ability to maintain its green cover, monitor tree health and curb illegal tree felling.
The issue has been highlighted by Vivek Velankar, President of Sajag Nagrik Manch, who has written to the Pune Municipal Commissioner seeking immediate recruitment to the vacant posts. The concerns are based on information obtained under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
According to the RTI reply, seven of the eight sanctioned posts of Garden Inspectors are vacant, while 29 of the 33 sanctioned posts of Garden Mistris remain unfilled. This means nearly 90% of the key supervisory positions responsible for maintaining the city’s gardens and trees are vacant.
Velankar said the vacancies come at a time when Pune is witnessing rapid urbanisation, increasing complaints of illegal tree felling and frequent incidents of trees collapsing during the monsoon.
Garden Inspectors are responsible for inspecting gardens, roadside green belts, playgrounds and trees, supervising plantation and tree maintenance, monitoring pruning, irrigation, fertiliser management and pest control, ensuring the upkeep of civic amenities in gardens, verifying citizens’ complaints, overseeing staff performance and ensuring compliance with rules related to tree felling, pruning and compensatory plantation.
Garden Mistris assist the inspectors by supervising on-ground work and ensuring that gardeners and labourers carry out assigned tasks efficiently.
Questioning how these responsibilities are being discharged with such a severe staff shortage, Velankar alleged that several critical functions are likely being neglected. These include preventing illegal tree felling, addressing public complaints, monitoring compensatory plantation after tree cutting, increasing the city’s green cover through native tree plantation, and carrying out scientific pruning of trees to prevent accidents during the monsoon.
He also claimed that in some cases, gardeners are being assigned supervisory responsibilities due to the shortage of Mistris, affecting the overall efficiency of the department.
In his letter, Velankar urged the PMC administration to immediately initiate the recruitment process to fill all vacant posts of Garden Inspectors and Garden Mistris, saying adequate staffing is essential to achieve the city’s goal of becoming greener and ensuring proper maintenance of its urban forests.
Responding to the concerns, PMC Garden Department Head Ashok Ghorpade said, “We are in the process of filling the vacancies. The recruitment process will be completed at the earliest.”
