Supreme Court Admits Petition Against Balbharti-Paud Ph’ata Road Project, Issues Notices to PMC and State Authorities
New Delhi/Pune, 27th May 2025: The Supreme Court of India on Tuesday admitted a Special Leave Petition (SLP) challenging the Bombay High Court’s recent order that permitted the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) to go ahead with the controversial Balbharti-Paud Phata Road project.
A notice has been issued to the PMC, the Maharashtra Government, and the State Forest Department. The matter will be heard after the Supreme Court resumes proceedings in July following its summer vacation.
The SLP contests the Bombay High Court’s February 2025 ruling in PIL No. 14/2022, which allowed PMC to proceed with the road project upon securing requisite permissions from the Forest and Environment Departments. The petitioners argue that the project poses significant ecological and procedural concerns.
The Balbharti-Paud Phata Road project, first proposed in PMC’s 1996 General Body resolution, has faced multiple legal and public hurdles over the decades. The Bombay High Court had quashed the project in 2016, yet it resurfaced when included in Pune’s Development Plan (DP), which was approved by the Maharashtra Government in 2017.
Opposition to the project has been consistent for over four decades, with environmentalists and citizens citing damage to the biodiversity-rich Vetal Tekdi region. A notable show of resistance took place on 15 April 2023, when nearly 5,000 Punekars marched through the rain to protest the road construction.
The Supreme Court’s decision to entertain the petition has reignited the debate around urban planning, environmental sustainability, and citizen participation in civic projects.
