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Pankaja Munde

Conduct checks on STPs like ED raids, Munde tells pollution control body

Maharashtra environment minister Pankaja Munde on Saturday said the state's pollution control board must conduct surprise inspections at sewage treatment plants (STPs) on the lines of "raids" by the Enforcement Directorate to ensure compliance with prevalent norms. Addressing a joint meeting with industrialists and Maharashtra Pollution Control Board officials in Nashik, Munde also said industries must grow, but environmental protection has to be prioritised. "Just like the ED conducts raids, the Pollution Control Board must raid STP plants. Check whether the water is being treated properly before being discharged into rivers," Munde said. Addressing the growing concerns of pollution and the role of industry in safeguarding the environment, she said, "We are now facing a global crisis. Industries must grow, but environmental protection must be prioritised. Reducing pollution in zones like the red category is critical." She also highlighted the need for efficient water use and ...

Updated On : 02 Aug 2025 | 6:51 PM IST

Drive against plastic: Cloth bag machine to be installed at secretariat

The Maharashtra government is planning to set up a cloth bag vending machine at Mantralaya (state secretariat) here in its drive against single-use plastics ahead of the World Environment Day on Thursday, an official said. All departments at the secretariat have been asked to collect and deposit the single-use plastic items at their offices as part of the drive, he said. The state Environment and Climate Change Department is planning to install the cloth bag vending machine at the secretariat on Thursday as a demonstration for daily visitors, the official said. It issued an order on Tuesday, asking all the departments to deposit the single-use plastic items in their offices at the Trimurti location in the Mantralaya. The environment department has already installed cloth bag vending machines at prominent locations, including the Shreemant Dagdusheth Halwai Ganpati Temple in Pune and a temple at Parli Vaijanath in Beed district. These machines dispense eco-friendly cloth bags for R

Updated On : 04 Jun 2025 | 12:06 PM IST

Sarpanch murder: Dhananjay, Pankaja should resign, says activist Damania

Social activist Anjali Damania has demanded that Maharashtra ministers Pankaja Munde and Dhananjay Munde resign till a probe is underway into the brutal murder of a village sarpanch in Beed district. Talking to a news channel on Monday, Damania claimed that Munde cousins very well know Walmik Karad, an accused in an extortion case linked to the sarpanch's murder. BJP leader Pankaja Munde is the state environment and climate change minister, while her cousin Dhananjay Munde, a leader of the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), holds charge of the food, civil supplies and consumer protection department. According to police, Massajog village sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh was abducted and killed on December 9 allegedly for opposing an extortion bid by some individuals who had demanded money from a windmill company in Beed district. Four persons have been arrested so far in connection with the murder. Opposition parties and a BJP MLA have accused Dhananjay Munde of having clos

Updated On : 31 Dec 2024 | 1:17 PM IST

Will take cognisance if Dalits, OBCs are troubled: BJP leader Pankaja Munde

Ahead of Maharashtra assembly polls, BJP leader Pankaja Munde on Saturday reached out to Dalits and Other Backward Classes (OBC), vowing to take cognisance if they are troubled. Munde, who lost the Lok Sabha polls on her home turf Beed district, the epicentre of Maratha protests led by activist Manoj Jarange, was addressing her annual Dussehra rally at Sawargaon Ghat, the birthplace of Sant Bhagwanbaba, a saint of her Vanjari community. State agriculture minister and her cousin Dhananjay Munde and Laxman Hake, who had protested opposing any potential dilution of the OBC reservation, were among those who spoke at the rally. Munde expressed her concerns over the rising caste schism within society. If a vehicle hits someone, people ask the caste of the driver. People want to know the caste of a person who has committed brutality against a small child and killed her. We don't want such a society, she said. The BJP national secretary warned that they would take cognisance if the poor,

Updated On : 12 Oct 2024 | 5:41 PM IST

Man who claimed he would be no more if Pankaja Munde loses dead in accident

A 38-year old truck driver who made a video claiming he would be "no more" if BJP leader Pankaja Munde lost the Lok Sabha polls from Beed was crushed under a bus on Friday night in what police suspect may be a case of suicide. The incident took place on Ahmedpur-Andhori road near Borgaon Pati at around 9pm and the victim has been identified as Sachin Kondiba Munde (38), a resident of Yestar in Latur's Ahmedpur, the Kingaon police station official said. "The bus driver has been arrested, while a probe is underway to find out if it was an accident or a case of suicide. It happened when the Yalderwadi night halt bus stopped at Borgaon Pati. Sachin was standing behind the bus and was crushed to death when it reversed," he added. The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation bus has been confiscated as part of the probe, Assistant Inspector Bahuasaheb Khandare of Kingaon police station said. The deceased, who is unmarried and lived with his parents and brother, had released a video .