Pune's Lake City Plan Gets a Fast-Track Push

Pune's civic administration has been handed a clear deadline-driven mandate on one of the city's most-watched urban environment projects. The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has been directed to prepare a comprehensive master plan for the proposed 'Lake City' project covering Jambhulwadi, Pashan and Katraj lakes, while expediting the process of transferring Jambhulwadi Lake from the Water Conservation Department to the PMC.

The directive came from Standing Committee Chairman Shrinath Bhimale during a review meeting on the condition of the city's major lakes. During the discussion, officials flagged serious environmental red flags around all three water bodies, including increasing pollution, sewage discharge, the spread of water hyacinth, incidents of fish deaths, and inadequate maintenance affecting the ecological health of the lakes. Bhimale did not stop at a general directive; he instructed officials to prepare a detailed master plan for the Lake City project, with separate action plans for each lake, with the plans expected to focus on water conservation, pollution control, biodiversity protection, tourism development and public amenities.

On the administrative front, the most immediate task is the long-pending handover of Jambhulwadi Lake. Officials were directed to expedite the administrative and government procedures required for its transfer to the PMC, with the chairman seeking a status report on previous correspondence, details of any proposal submitted to the state government, and the expected timeline for completion of the process. He also called for a time-bound conservation plan for the lake, signalling that the state government-to-PMC handover is being treated as a priority rather than a routine formality.

Katraj and Pashan lakes came in for equally sharp scrutiny. On Katraj, officials were asked to submit laboratory reports and water sample analyses related to recent fish death incidents reported at the lake, along with information on sewage inflow, the capacity of existing sewage treatment plants, and accountability for lapses. For Pashan Lake, the PMC has been told to mount a special drive against water hyacinth, sewage and solid waste, and to share figures on hyacinth removal, desilting and related spending — a clear signal that day-to-day maintenance failures, not just long-term planning, are under the civic body's lens.

This latest push builds on groundwork already underway. PMC had earlier undertaken a desilting drive across Katraj, Jambhulwadi and Pashan lakes to improve water storage capacity and curb mosquito breeding, with work prioritising Jambhulwadi Lake and the Katraj Lake inside Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park before the monsoon. Over ₹4 crore had been earmarked for that desilting exercise alone, underlining that the Lake City vision is being layered on top of active on-ground restoration work rather than starting from scratch.

For homebuyers and investors tracking South and West Pune, this is significant context. Localities around these lakes — Katraj, Jambhulwadi, Kondhwa, NIBM and Pashan — have steadily gained traction as residential catchments, and a credible, well-executed lake-conservation and public-amenity plan tends to lift the desirability of surrounding neighbourhoods over time. Katraj itself has already seen flat rates change by 17.5% in the last one year, reflecting how infrastructure and environmental upgrades near established landmarks feed directly into property values. Pune's broader residential market, meanwhile, continues to show resilience even as it matures — property registrations crossed 1.44 lakh between January and August 2025, showing a 13 percent annual increase, pointing to sustained end-user demand across the city's growth corridors.

While the Lake City master plan is still in its preparatory stage and no construction or amenity timelines have been finalised, the intent is unmistakable: better-managed, cleaner lakes with tourism and public-amenity components woven in. For anyone evaluating a home purchase near Jambhulwadi, Pashan or Katraj, this is a development worth tracking closely over the coming months as PMC firms up its action plans and timelines for each lake.