Pune: The city’s former mayor, Shantilal Suratwala, passed away on Friday after a prolonged illness. He was 76. Suratwala was active in politics for over four decades. Starting as a Ganesh Mandal worker, Suratwala entered active politics by winning the Pune Municipal Corporation election from the City Post ward in 1979. For the next three decades, he held various positions in the civic body, including that of mayor (1992-93). Suratwala worked closely with Congress leader Suresh Kalmadi and then with NCP chief Sharad Pawar. He was also NCP’s city president for a brief period. Former mayor and Suratwala’s close friend, Ankush Kakade, said that Suratwala always maintained excellent relations with leaders across party lines. He was also associated with many social organisations. “He was well-versed with the issues facing the city. During his stint in PMC, Suratwala came up with many innovative ideas and launched various citizen-centric projects. One of the initiatives taken by him was to wash prominent roads in the city to maintain cleanliness and control dust pollution. His initiative was panned by some corporators, who said that it would lead to wastage of water,” Kakade said. Besides his contribution to politics, Suratwala was associated with various public forums. He was the founder of a blood bank through which he promoted the message of voluntary blood donation. Suratwala was also an avid trekker and fitness enthusiast. He was involved with many trekking expeditions.
