Devendra Fadnavis bats for Neo-Metro on Pune’s HCMTR

HCMTR is the inner ring road, and it was planned in 1986, and PMC has not executed the project till date

Former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has instructed the ruling Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) to give priority to High-Capacity Mass Transit Route (HCMTR) project and execute Neo-Metro on the same. On Friday, Fadnavis was in the city to launch the AC bus service in the central part of the city at the cost of Rs10.

Maharashtra Former Chief Minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis addresses a press conference. (ANI)

As the central government has accepted the Neo-Metro model nationwide, Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) will get financial help from Centre to execute the HCMTR project.

HCMTR is the inner ring road, and it was planned in 1986, and PMC has not executed the project till date.

Pune district guardian minister Ajit Pawar has already given instructions to execute Neo-Metro on HCMTR and bring down its width. Fadnavis, meanwhile, has instructed to execute the hybrid Neo-Metro model.

“Along, with Neo-Metro, try to keep one lane open for private vehicles,” he said.

Fadnavis said, “Maha-Metro had invented the Neo-Metro model which was first planned for Nashik city. Now central government has accepted it at the national level. Now Prime Minister Narendra Modi is planning to execute it in his Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi. If PMC executes Neo-Metro it will get financial aid from central and state governments. It will help to bring down civic body’s financial burden.”

“Maha-Metro had invented the model, so it is better to ask then to prepare the Detailed Project Report (DPR) and allot the work to them as there would be no need to carry the tender process,” he said.

While launching the bus service, Fadnavis lauded BJP for its performance in the municipal corporation for the development works undertaken in the city.

“It is necessary to strengthen the public transport. During my tenure, I tried to make Pune a sustainable city and gave a nod to all transport-related projects. We purchased the electric buses and now Pune has the highest electric buses for public transport,” he said.