Demolition of middle portion of Pune’s Sus-Pashan bridge begins

Pune Municipal Corporation special projects department is overseeing construction of flyover for the NHAI and demolition of Sus-Pashan bridge is part of the plan

PUNE: The demolition of the middle portion of the old Susgaon-Pashan bridge which goes over the Mumbai-Bengaluru national highway near Pashan tekdi started on Thursday. Traffic was diverted from the service road on both sides and a portion of the highway was blocked for the demolition work. While traffic moved smoothly in the morning, a few regular commuters felt that traffic would be slowed down during peak hours.

The Bengaluru highway near Pashan tekdi in Pune was closed for vehicles on Thursday as the Sus-Pashan bridge demolition work began. (HT)

Ajay Wayase, executive engineer, Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) said, “It will take 15 days to demolish the middle portion. For a few days, the highway will be blocked from both sides. We will start partial (from one side of the highway) movement once half the demolition work is completed. The decision to block both sides has been taken for purposes of safety.”

In March this year, 55% of the construction work was complete with 45% remaining. Due to the second wave of Covid-19, work progressed at a slow pace. As on August 19, 60% of the flyover work has been completed indicating that only 5% work was carried out over the course of five months between March and August.

“The remaining work is expected to be complete by March 2022. Work on the middle two stands is remaining. All the work is going on as per the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) guidelines,” Wayase said.

The special projects department of the PMC is overseeing the construction of the flyover for the NHAI. The bridge is being built at a cost of Rs40 crore with the proposal having been put forward a few years ago by local corporator Baburao Chandere. The new flyover will measure 18metre in width as against the existing 8metre-wide Pashan-Sus bridge which is proving inadequate given the increase in the number of residences and information technology (IT) companies in Hinjewadi and Sus. The new flyover will connect the Mumbai-Bengaluru national highway to Sus and Pashan with a 350metre road from the west side.