"When I heard the news, my first thought was — this was waiting to happen. But at the same time, I really did not wish for someone to lose their life. Two people who had so much promise and their lives were just snuffed out. And then the grief hit as I thought what if it was my sibling or my child? What would I do?" said Yasmin Charania, a business consultant and a resident of Pune's Kalyani Nagar, as she recalled the first time she heard of the accident caused by a minor driver of a luxury Porsche car that killed two young professionals on 19 May.
Yasmin, like scores of residents of Kalyani Nagar, has been at the forefront of flagging issues with upcoming commercial establishments, like bars and pubs, for at least two years before Vedant Agarwal's (17) car hit Aneesh Awadhiya and Ashwini Koshta.
In the following weeks, the case exposed some of the ugliest facets of the country's systems — Agarwal and his friends being served alcohol at two high-end pubs before the drive despite being underage, being let go by the Juvenile Justice Board with an essay, government hospital doctors bribed heftily to swap blood samples of the accused, and the grandfather of the accused having allegedly kidnapped the driver to force him to take the blame.
While the deaths shook Pune residents, these details hardly did. Residents of Kalyani Nagar, Viman Nagar, and Koregaon Park areas had been alleging years of flouting of rules by many pubs, including overcrowding, staying open for hours beyond permissible timings, blaring loud music beyond 10:00 pm, and brawls and eve-teasing on the streets after the places shut.
"It used to be like the Wild Wild West on some streets here," said Drayson Dixon, vice chairperson of Team Swacchh Kalyani Nagar (TSKN), a residents' body at the forefront of tackling the menace.
"We were running from pillar to post and only later we got to understand why we were not able to achieve our goals. Those in power clearly had vested interests in the high returns that these establishments had to offer," Dixon alleged.
But the Porsche case has not only sprung the authorities to take stricter actions and has generated a sense of fear of the law, it is also driving the politics and electoral prospects for the candidates of the Vadgaon Sheri constituency — sitting MLA and Nationalist Congress Party leader Sunil Tingre and NCP- Sharadchandra Pawar leader Bapu Pathare.
In this detailed story, we bring forth the voices of the residents, their struggle for peaceful co-existence, details of how the authorities have acted in the aftermath of the Porsche case, and the impact it could have on the upcoming elections.
The Futile Fight Before the Accident
"For a substantial time, we would go to these places personally and request them to follow norms. All we wanted was to co-exist peacefully. We literally went from restaurant to restaurant, bar to bar to tell them that there is a deadline set by the Supreme Court for loud music. Is that too much to ask for? When that failed, we started approaching lawmakers, going to cops, anything to make them quiet down," said Yasmin.
Pointing to a thick file of documents and letters filed by the body, Dixon explained how they had been knocking at every possible door for some concrete action to be taken.
"We wrote to excise, police, traffic, and the municipal corporation who altogether issued a plethora of licences to these place to operate," he said. While temporary actions were taken by authorities in some cases, most would get back to the status quo after a few days.
According to residents, most of the pubs and bars started coming up after the COVID-19 pandemic, with timings being extended till 1:30 pm to help them cope up with pandemic-induced losses. Several residents in Kalyani Nagar and Koragaon Park areas said that most of them had dialled 100 at least once over before the accident.
A month ahead of the accident, two big clubs - Elrow and Unicorn club have faced action by the authorities, including counselling by the Pune police commissioner Amitesh Kumar for alleged late-night operations and noise pollution violations. Both clubs also face multiple cases against them.
Another club called Pergola operating out of Kalyani Nagar, too, has been pulled up by the Pune police and authorities for lack of enough parking and flouting parking norms. But with Pergola, the allegations by residents are more serious.
The residents of Nitron Housing Society, the ground floor of which Pergola operates out of, have alleged that they had given consent to the owners as they were told that the place would be used as an office space.
"We realised it was an eatery only when a chimney came up during renovations. There are also unauthorised structural changes that have been made, including to the drainage systems, and have encroached upn designated parking space," said Siddhartha Maitrayee, chairman of the society.
Incidentally, Ballr pub, where the two deceased victims had dinner before they met with the accident, has also been in trouble several times for allegedly flouting norms.
Porche Accident: The Night That Changed Everything
In five months since the accident, a lot has changed for both residents and the owners of the establishments across Pune.
Though the residents say that there we some actions taken before the accident happened, it was only after media coverage that the PMC, excise, and police departments ran to do their part.
A spree of inspections began following the accident while alleged lack of hard-hitting action by authorities made headlines across news channels.
Maharashtra deputy CM and home minister Devendra Fadnavis in June had informed the state Assembly that 70 pubs that were flouting norms were sealed across Pune.
Pubs and bars in Pune started charging visitors for authorised liquor consumption permits irrespective of age.
"There were 54 establishments that were sent notices by the excise department after the accident. Out of these, 34 were pulled up for 'change of use' and 20 were pulled up for illegally encroaching on roads outside designated spaces," said Monica Sharma.
A resident of Kalyani Nagar, Sharma has maintained a record of every letter submitted to various authorities over the past two years.
"It was only after media's pressure due the Porsche accident that they started taking action and the checks increased drastically. There are many businessmen, politicians, who obviously profit a lot out of these establishments," Sharma alleged.
In August, the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board wrote to the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) that no due clearences were sought from the body as required by bars and pubs operating in these areas.
Following the accident, the two places that the accused were served alcohol - Blak and Cosie - were also sealed.
Several establishments that had encroached on the roads, those structures were demolished by the authorities on orders by chief minister Eknath Shinde. However, in two-three months after the demolitions took place in May, many of these places have allegedly reconstructed and have started functioning again.
The fear of law, however, has crept in since the accident, residents believe.
Every place operating in these areas is now checking identification before entering to verify the age of those visiting.
"Before the accident, we approached any of these places personally, some would quiet down for a while and then increase the volume again. At so many places, they did not entertain us at all," she said.
Meanwhile, residents of Kalyani Nagar, Viman, Nagar, and Koragaon Park have been alleging that a rise in pub culture has also led to a rise in drug abuse in these areas.
"Used syringes have been encountered at so many places in these areas. Once the crackdown started after the accident, that subsided too," said Munir Vastani, an IT professional.
In June, outrage erupted after a sting operation by The Scoope News showed men snorting substances in the washroom of L3 Lounge located at Feguson college road in Pune.
Following the allegations, there has been a sringent crackdown on the drugs menace. Between 1 January to 22 September this year, 1,982 kg of narcotics worth Rs 358.27 crore have reportedly been seized from across Pune.
Repeated calls and messages to Pune's Excise Department Superintendent failed to get a response. The report will be updated if and when a response is received.
Aftermath of the Accident: An Election Depends on It
Speaking to The Quint, the Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar said that the crackdown and checks on establishments in these areas have not eased.
"There is continued action at multi-department levels to keep the places in check and ensure they follow rules. We have not yet recieved any such complaints about encroachments resurfacing. In case there is encroachment, the PMC is the competent authority for that," he said,
For other irregularities like late-running or serving alcohol to juveniles, we are totally sensitive to it. We will ensure that no such thing happens," he said.
Meanwhile, owner of one of the establishments in Kalyani Nagar, on the condition of anonymity, said that there are soem places which have constantly flouted norms but that does not mean all of them did.
"There are always loopholes that will be encountered once a micro lens is put up. But that does not mean all establishments are disregarding the laws entirely. Severeal places were checking IDs and verifying age even before the accident. But then some have been repeat offenders and now everyone's under the radar," they said.
"We cannot drop anyone home once they are out of the restaurant. At so many of these places, most permissions were given by the same authorities who now have a micro lens on us. You have to understand, one any kind of action takes place, it threatens jobs of at least 20-30 staff, waieters, who are not so well off. There should not be one-sided propaganda because we employ people too," they added.
Pune's local and state politics has remained heated since the Porsche accident.
Sitting MLA of Vadgaon Sheri and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Sunil Tingre, meanwhile, has become a bone of contention between Ajit Pawar and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
On the night of the accident, Tingre had rushed to the police station where the accused was taken, a move which the Opposition parties at the time alleged was to 'shield' the accused.
Later, when Dr Ajay Taware, along with staff of the Sassoon hospital doctors was rested for allegedly taking bribes to swap the blood samples of all those present in the car, a letter of recommendation surfaced on social media where Tingre had previously backed him for the post of Medical Superintendent of the Sassoon hospital.
These headlines have kept haunting Tingre's political prospects, so much so that the BJP, his party's ally in the state, had been staunchly against his candidature and was backing former MLA Jagdish Mulik to be fielded from Vadgaon Sheri. Mulik and Tingre have been staunch rivals for decade, with Mulik having won the seat in 2014 against Tingre. In 2019, Tingre defeated Mulik by mere 4,975 votes.
After the seat was not listed in both BJP and NCP's first list, both leaders had expressed confidence in their names featuring in the second list. Ajit Pawar, however, is believed to have gone ahead and wrestled the seat for Tingre whose name featured in the second list released by the party.
Calling the allegations a political witch-hunt against him, Tingre told The Quint: "I have supported the residents since way before the accident and also after it despite allegations being made against me. Nobody highlights that."
"Excise, collector office, municipal commissioner's office, and police - these are four offices that give whatever permissions are required whenever a bar or a restaurant is to be established. Any such house or a bungalow is initially sanctioned for residential purposes. They resort to change of use by exploiting loopholes in the laws," Tingre said.
Weeks before the election, NCPSP chief Sharad Pawar, too, made it clear that this will be the party's poll plank. "Shame that an MLA, instead of standing by the people, helped those who killed innocent citizens," he said at an event.
Congress MLA Ravindra Dhangekar, meanwhile, has been at the forefront of advocating for complete closure of pubs in these areas.
"The people who start these businesses are influential people and have close ties to local politicians. The talathis, the police officers, and other relevant officials further such businesses for their own gains. The politicians also back them," Dhangekar said.
"There were lots of curbs put in place after the accident. The nuisance has definitely reduced. But the checks are still not satisfactory. Do they expect us to keep fighting and protesting every day? They know we cannot. This is beyond politics. Are rogue pubs going to be the new identity of Pune?" he said.
The activists flagging violations by establishments, meanwhile, refuse to give up.
"After the accident, many political parties approached us to collaborate with them. We refused to entertain any of them. Why should we? Why should we give all our work of two years to them to take credit? We were left alone when we were running from pillar to post for two years," Sharma said.
"We did all the work and when action happened, party workers were hyping and thanking their politicians. We don't care about that but for two years, hardly anybody listened," she said.
"There is fear. Our families try to tell us not to go against an entire system. We are told by friends we must not step outside alone, there was that much fear. But doing this and fighting for rules to be followed has made us realise the side of us that we did not know we had," Yasmin said.
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