Pimpri Chinchwad civic body demolishes slums near Kala Khadak for road widening to ease Hinjewadi IT Park traffic

Time of India

21 hours ago

Pune: The Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) on Wednesday carried out a demolition drive near Kala Khadak to facilitate the widening of a road connecting Hinjewadi IT Park.
Around 46,000 square feet of encroachments, including 96 slum hutments, commercial shops, and brick structures, which were obstructing the expansion of the road to 45 metres, were cleared.
A civic official said the Kala Khadak area was one of the key bottlenecks contributing to traffic congestion around Bhumkar Chowk and Dange Chowk, which are major access points to the IT park. The exercise covered a 250-metre stretch, extending up to 16 metres from the main road.
The move followed a meeting chaired by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis last week in Mumbai, where officials and representatives of the IT employees discussed traffic snarl and infrastructure issues. The widening of the road connecting Aundh BRTS Road to Y Junction at Hinjewadi remains incomplete at three locations, including Kala Khadak, due to encroachments. Two other stretches are stuck in legal disputes as landowners have approached the court seeking a stay on acquisition.
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"These incomplete sections have been causing major traffic snarl, especially during peak hours," the official said, adding that most of the IT park employees use this route to reach their workplaces.
Civic officials clarified that all the 96 affected slum dwellers are beneficiaries of a scheme by the Slum Rehabilitation Authority and will soon be relocated to a nearby project. Additional municipal commissioner Pradip Jambhale Patil told TOI: "We have temporarily shifted these families to Kiwale, where accommodation has been arranged."
Debris will be removed soon, and road-widening work will begin on Wednesday, Patil said. "The widening will help ease congestion not only towards Hinjewadi IT Park but also along the road connecting Phoenix Mall and adjoining areas," he added.
Bapusaheb Gaikwad, PCMC's joint city engineer and head of the urban mobility department, confirmed that this stretch was among the bottlenecks identified in earlier studies.
"This action has freed up the full corridor from Dange Chowk and Bhumkar Chowk to Hinjewadi, which will significantly improve the traffic flow," he said.
He further said that the National Highways Authority of India still needs to undertake several additional projects to create multiple access points and underpasses, enabling smoother connectivity between both sides of the highway.
Municipal commissioner Shekhar Singh said, "We have intensified actions against illegal structures across the city.
Officials have been instructed to demolish on priority any unauthorised structures obstructing infrastructure projects."
Daily commuters welcomed the move and said that the widening of the road will significantly reduce congestion.
Dattatray Deshmukh, chairman of the Pimpri Chinchwad Cooperative Housing Societies Federation, said, "Earlier it used to take 15-20 minutes just to cross the 500-metre stretch near Kala Khadak. Clearing these encroachments is a relief, but it is equally important to expedite the road widening to achieve real improvement. Many IT professionals rely on this route every day to reach their offices."