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Complete metro work before Ganesh festival, Pune mandals write to Maha-Metro
The Akhil Mandai Ganesh Utsav Mandal last week wrote a letter to Maha-Metro director (works), Atul Gadgil, asking that the Maha-Metro speed up and complete the work on the metro before the Ganesh festival this year
City-based Ganesh mandals, especially around Mandai, have demanded that the Maharashtra Metro Railway Corporation Limited (Maha Metro) speed up and complete the work on the metro before the Ganesh festival this year.
The Akhil Mandai Ganesh Utsav Mandal last week wrote a letter to Maha-Metro director (works), Atul Gadgil, asking that the Maha-Metro speed up and complete the work on the metro before the Ganesh festival this year.
The letter stated, “The Ganesh procession starts from the Mandai-based Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak statue. The Maha-Metro has started the underground work at the Tilak statue and Baba Genu Chowk. However, we have observed that the work has stopped for the last few days. Our demand is that the work should resume and be completed before the Ganesh festival.”
“The processions of the Mandai Ganesh Utsav Mandal, five ‘Manache Ganapati’ and other Ganesh mandals start from the Tilak statue located in the Mandai area. There are only three months left for the Ganesh festival. So, the Maha-Metro will have to speed up and complete the work,” the letter stated.
According to Maha-Metro officials, out of the five underground metro stations on the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) to Swargate route, the Civil Court and Shivajinagar metro stations will soon be ready. Whereas work is in progress on the Budhwar Peth, Mandai and Swargate metro stations. The Maha Metro is constructing two shifts which will be used as entry and exit points for Mandai station.
Hemant Sonawane, public relations officer, Maha-Metro, said, “Work on the underground Mandai metro station on the PCMC to Swargate route is underway and completing it is our priority. We acquired the land a little late in May 2021 after which, we started work. While we have completed most of the work, we will try to complete the station work as early as possible.”
Maha-Metro officials said that the work on most of the elevated metro stations has been completed. Work on the Shivajinagar and Civil Court underground metro stations, too, has been completed. The Maha-Metro will soon start metro services on the PCMC to Civil Court and Vanaz to Civil Court stretches. However, it will take time to complete work on the Budhwar Peth, Mandai and Swargate underground metro stations.
In 2021, eight prominent Ganesh mandals in the Peth areas had raised objections to the work of placing girders on the pillars at Sambhaji Bridge claiming these would create problems while immersing the Ganesh idols in the Mutha river on the final (immersion) day of the Ganesh festival. The issue was sorted out after much discussion but the metro was delayed.
