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Indian Express
17-07-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
Building Pune: PMRDA to redevelop roads damaged due to metro rail construction from Maan to Shivajinagar
Facing criticism for damage to roads caused by the ongoing construction of the 25-km elevated Pune metro corridor from Maan village to Shivajinagar, the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) has decided to undertake a Rs 628 crore infrastructure project to redevelop the affected roads. The phase under construction runs through Maan, Hinjewadi, Baner, and Ganeshkhind. 'The roads on which the metro rail work is going on from Maan to Shivajinagar have been damaged. The citizens have been complaining about it. This was discussed at the joint meeting of PMRDA and Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). Thereafter, repair work was planned,' said a PMRDA officer. It is estimated that the work will take five years to complete and will involve redevelopment of four lanes on either side of the 25km-long metro corridor, besides construction of parking lanes, bus bays, footpaths, cycle tracks, traffic rotaries, and islands, among others. 'A consultant is being appointed for the purpose and is supposed to come up with a detailed survey, providing for design of pavement, structures, and various components of road, preparation of detailed estimates, detailed drawings, and planning for utility shifting…' he further said. Annirudha Pawaskar, Chief Engineer, PMC, said, 'There was a discussion on redeveloping the roads on which the elevated metro from Maan-Hinjewadi to Shivajinagar is being constructed. The roads were damaged, so it was decided to develop them as ideal roads with standard norms. However, the decision on who would redevelop was not taken as the metro route passes through areas of various government jurisdictions, including MIDC (Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation), PMRDA, and PMC.' 'Later, we thought that since the redevelopment of roads would be as per fixed standard norms, then it should be done by one agency, PMRDA, or otherwise separate government organisations would undertake it separately for the road in their respective areas. This would not help achieve the objective of redeveloping roads with the same norms,' he added. The PMRDA said the consultant will have to carry out a detailed survey of the existing right-of-way, existing carriageway, and pavement conditions. A route alignment survey also needs to be carried out, taking into consideration the land acquisition required. 'It should map out subsurface utilities up to a depth of 6 metres while differentiating between subsurface utilities such as live electric cables, metallic utilities, and other utilities using Ground Penetrating Radar,' it said, adding that the traffic count survey should be carried out with the next 10 years in mind. NCP(SP) MP Supriya Sule had criticised Pune authorities following the recent flooding in Hinjewadi owing to the drainage system getting blocked by debris from the metro construction. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadanavis had also directed the PMRDA to undertake road repair work on a war footing. Ajay Jadhav is an Assistant Editor with The Indian Express, Pune. He writes on Infrastructure, Politics, Civic issues, Sustainable Development and related stuff. He is a trekker and a sports enthusiast. Ajay has written research articles on the Conservancy staff that created a nationwide impact in framing policy to improve the condition of workers handling waste. Ajay has been consistently writing on politics and infrastructure. He brought to light the lack of basic infrastructure of school and hospital in the hometown of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde even as two private helipads were developed by the leader who mostly commutes from Mumbai to Satara in helicopter. Ajay has been reporting on sustainable development initiatives that protects the environment while ensuring infrastructure development. ... Read More
Indian Express
22-04-2025
- Climate
- Indian Express
Pune Municipal Corporation focuses on water logging spots, 50 km roads as monsoon preparedness work
Gearing up for the monsoon, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has started infrastructure works as part of monsoon preparedness at 12 locations that have faced water logging in the last few years, using new technology for repairing roads. The PMC has received funding from National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to take up mitigation steps for disaster management especially during monsoon season. 'Storm water drains totalling a length of 4.4 km are being developed at select locations where water logging has been reported. This is being done to ensure no water logging takes place at the 12 locations,' said a civic officer. These locations include areas near Arnold school in Vadgaon Sheri, Kalwad Wasti, Smashanbhoomi chowk at Lohegaon bus stop, Khese Park, Spicer College road in Aundh, Pratigya Hall in Karve Nagar, PARI company in Dhayari, Khadi Machine Chowk bus stop, Shraddha Nagar in Kondhwa Budruk, Kodre Bungalow in Mundhwa and Chandan Sweet chowk in Bhavani Peth. 2.4 km of stormwater drains have been laid down and work is ongoing for a 2 km stretch, the officer informed. Chief Engineer Annirudha Pawaskar said the PMC has taken up preventive maintenance of 50 km of road in the city. 'The low cost treatment will be done through a micro surfacing method which is the best at less cost. It protects the road surface for four years. The same was used in the last and had yielded good results like the flyover surface at Rahul theatre which is in good condition from the last seven years,' he said a total of Rs 15 crore will be spent for the purpose. Meanwhile, reminding the inconvenience citizens face during the monsoon in the last few years, BJP leader Sandeep Khardekar urged the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) to focus on locations that face frequent water logging. 'The city has been witnessing havoc during the monsoon due to water logging and flooding, posing a threat to life of citizens. The civic administration should take measures to avoid a repeat of the situation by doing premonsoon work predicting uncontrolled rainfall this monsoon,' said state BJP spokesperson Sandeep Khardekar. 'All the ward offices have sensitive locations in their jurisdiction that suffer due to flooding. Around one and half month is left to take up necessary work' Khardekar urged. While the PMC has started cleaning of natural streams, drainage systems, storm water drains, the area most affected in the rain should be given priority, he said.
