E-Paper
10K participate in PMC’s origin-destination survey of Balbharati-Paud Phata road
Amid queries and opposition from residents and activists, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on June 27 started an origin-destination survey to assess the need and feasibility of the proposed Balbharati-Paud Phata road, the survey, which ended on July 2, saw 10,000 residents participate
Amid queries and opposition from residents and activists, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on June 27 started an origin-destination survey to assess the need and feasibility of the proposed Balbharati-Paud Phata road, the survey, which ended on July 2, saw 10,000 residents participate.
Consultant Nagesh Chitari, from EnviroSafe consultants, who are on board as consultants said, “We had 10,000 participants. The origin destination survey was divided over two destinations, Dadhichi Chowk on Senapati Bapat Road and Athavale chowk on Chiplunkar road (Law College road).”
“Residents living in the area participated in the online survey and our volunteers also asked questions to those who travel frequently on this road,” added Chitari.
VG Kulkarni, PMC road department head said, “The survey concluded on July 2 and has been uploaded to the PMC servers. These will be tallied and then prepared in a report for the commissioner and the collector on Monday.”
The proposed 2.1-kilometre-long stretch is to be constructed between Kelewadi junctions on Paud road and till Balbharati office on Senapati Bapat road, to reduce traffic chaos. It was proposed 35 years ago by the civic body, and the PMC has also made provision for it in its 2022-2023 budget.
Residents who opposed the road alleged that the survey was flawed. “For a supposed origin-destination survey, the online form and commuters were neither asked their origin nor destination. The map in the form states the distance between BalBharati-Paud Kelewadi as 3.5 km - Google maps shows the distance each way as 2.8 km and 2.2 km respectively. A wrong picture of distance saved will obviously distort the findings. Moreover, the proposed road has been shown as 1.8 km, when PMC has always set it at 2.1 km. This appears to be a malicious attempt to mislead the public into favouring the road by believing that 1.7 km will be saved through this road, when the actual saving is only about 500 metres. An origin-destination survey is a major requirement for any transportation planning project - but the PMC’s format for this survey is laughable. An origin-destination survey should have data on where people start their trips, where the trips end, mode used, time of the day, time needed, gender-age of the person travelling. However, this form does not ask for this data,” said Sumita Kale, member of the Deccan Gymkhana Parisar Samiti.
But not all the residents are against it, some people living along the law college road feel that there is a need for an alternate road. “An alternate road is indeed a welcome for people like us who have their houses close to the law college road and have to suffer daily with loud honking noises, and steady traffic snarls for hours,” said Anil Damle, a resident.
