Pune: Businessman Yohan Poonawalla and his wife Michelle along with the leading lights of Pune comprising PMC Commissioner Vikram Kumar, additional muncipal Commissioner Vikas Dhakane, Dr Parvez Grant, Chief cardiologist and managing trustee of Ruby Hall Clinic, Industrialist Pheroz Pudumjee, BJP spokeperson Ali Daruwala, Advocate Shreyas Adyanthaya, Jehangir Jehangir of Jehangir hospital, Vishal Chordia of Suhana masale,held an important discussion at Poonawalla Manor in Koregaon Park on pressing civic issues affecting the development of the city and wherein all the stakeholders emphasized the need to remove all the bottlenecks for holistic growth of the city.
The high profile Informal Meeting was held on 8th January 2024,attended by some of the giants of the corporate world and came to the conclusion that a strong public -private partnership was needed to resolve the civic issues affecting Pune City and the entire metropolitan region.
Illustrious industrialist Yohan Poonawalla said “ It is important that the private sector comes together with the public sector ( government ) to get the results on the ground instead of doing things here and there in isolation. It's only when we actually come together that desired goals can be achieved. We had a fruitful discussion with the PMC commissioner on various subjects like Pune Metro, airport , roads, etc. The PMC commissioner rightly mentioned that the population is expanding rapidly in Pune and the need for creation of a robust infrastructure to match up with the unprecedented growth is necessary. The airport connectivity in terms of international flights is poor, and we need more international flights , ” he said.
Yohan’s wife Michelle Poonawalla said “ I think it is very important for the public and private sector to come together to not only share ideas for Pune for its development but also to understand how many things PMC is doing for the citizens. We have all understood Pune is no longer a small city and infrastructure has to match with the population growth. Positive thing is everyone is working together to achieve the change” she said.
PMC Commissioner Vikram Kumar said “ A number of issues related to civic infrastructure upgradation and improvement, traffic scenario, airport development, drinking water and cleanliness issues were discussed and deliberated upon with the industrialists. It was a very fruitful meeting and we hope to launch some important citizen centric initiatives through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funding from the corporate houses. We thank the Poonawalla family and all other leading businessmen for taking this important initiative for the city and the citizens which is commendable ,” he said. Kumar thanked all the businessmen present for vociferously raising their pitch for integrated development of the city.
Dr Grant said “ Pune is the eighth biggest city in India and we have hardly any international connectivity and there are only two flights-Singapore and Dubai . So many people want to travel to Pune because of the problem of the airport. The runaway extension has to be fixed within the next six months for bigger flights to come. We discussed traffic management and the fine amount must go up significantly. Look at the infrastructure of the developed nations and compare it with Pune and we are far behind. There is a need to come together and bring the city to the international level ,” he added.
Industrialist Pheroz Pudumjee said “ All resources need to be pooled so that things are done properly. City is growing rapidly and infrastructure has not kept pace with the development. Water is a critical issue and we have to increase our water capturing ability and see to it that Pune does not become a water deficient city in the near future ,” he said.
Bjp Spokeperson Ali Daruwala said “ We thank PMC commissioner Vikram Kumar , and additional muncipal Commissioner Vikas Dhakane,India's leading businessmen Yohan Poonawalla, Michelle Poonawalla, Pheroz Pudumjee, Vishal Chordia, Mr Jehangir Jehangir of Jehangir hospital, Advocate Shreyas Adyanthaya and Dr Parvez Grant, for taking a major step in the direction of making Pune an international city with one of the best civic infrastructure in the near future. We will continue holding such conclaves for the development of Pune and its citizens as part of our national development plan ,” he said.
Corporate Social Responsibility activities
The Poonawalla Group supports several Corporate Social Responsibility activities such as providing gainful employment to the Poona Leprosy Committee since 1990 thus playing an important role in almost eradicating the disease which is in play to date, donating towards the ‘Zavaray Poonawalla Cancer Building’ at the Ruby Hall Hospital, beautifying and maintaining ‘The Gool Poonawala Garden’, sponsored and took active participation in the construction of the Soli Poonawalla Road in Hadapsar and promoting English medium education at the ‘Soli Poonawalla Memorial High School’.
