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Bharati Vidyapeeth still not part of Swargate-Katraj Metro despite state approval
That the general body of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) proposing a Metro station at Bharati Vidyapeeth as part of the Swargate to Katraj underground Metro hasn’t been implemented has drawn the ire of the elected members
That the general body of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) proposing a Metro station at Bharati Vidyapeeth as part of the Swargate to Katraj underground Metro hasn’t been implemented has drawn the ire of the elected members.
The Maharashtra government on Wednesday gave its nod for the Swargate to Katraj underground Metro but the metro has only three stations with no station between Padmavati and Katraj. When the PMC gave its nod to the proposal, most of the elected members demanded that there should be one more station either at Balaji nagar or near Bharati Vidyapeeth, the latter because there is maximum commuter footfall at Dhankawadi and the students’ population is sizeable at Bharati Vidyapeeth.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) corporator Vishal Tambe said, “I was the first to demand a metro station between Padmavati and Katraj. Later, all corporators gave their nod to it and demanded the same. Even the mayor instructed that the same be incorporated in the proposal.”
“Maha-Metro officials had given an in-principle nod to the same and promised to make changes accordingly. But while sending the proposal to the state government, it did not become a part. Recently, I had submitted a letter to guardian minister Ajit Pawar and Pawar instructed the metro to make the necessary changes after carrying out a technical study,” Tambe said.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation Limited (Maha-Metro) public relations officer Hemant Sonawane said, “The Maha-Metro is positively for it. If the proposal has been submitted to the state government, the Maha-Metro will carry out a technical study and if it is the citizens’ demand and it’s feasible, Maha-Metro will have no problem doing it. However, a technical study must be carried out first.”
Meanwhile, a PMC official on condition of anonymity said, “As there is a Shankar Maharaj flyover, there are lesser chances of having a station at Balaji nagar but it can be near the Bharati Vidyapeeth or some other nearby location. To get approvals earlier, the proposal went to the state government but the central government’s approval is still pending. If the Maha-Metro will complete the technical study, it will become part of it.”
