E-Paper
Former NCP corporator digs up cycle track; PMC files complaint against unknown person
The 1.5 metre wide cycle track is located on the Pune-Solapur road near Hadapsar Gadital and runs adjacent to the service road before the beginning of the Saswad road flyover
PUNE: While the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) is promoting the use of bicycles and spending crores of rupees on the development and maintenance of cycle tracks in the city, some of its former members are going about destroying what the civic body has achieved. In the latest incident on Saturday, a former Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) corporator dug up a cycle track in Hadapsar saying it was obstructing traffic. What’s more, he bragged about his action in public even as the PMC filed a complaint against an unknown person.
V G Kulkarni, chief engineer of the road department said, “The incident took place on Saturday. When we came to know about it, we instructed Hadapsar ward officials to file a complaint against an unidentified person as we did not know who was behind the action. The cycle track is part of the bus rapid transit route (BRTS) and is around 225 metre long and runs adjacent to the footpath.”
The 1.5 metre wide cycle track is located on the Pune-Solapur road near Hadapsar Gadital and runs adjacent to the service road before the beginning of the Saswad road flyover. The PMC in 2007-08 developed the footpath and cycle track along the 8 kilometre BRTS from Swargate to Hadapsar Gadital as per union government guidelines. It was part of the pilot BRTS in India developed from Hadapsar to Swargate and Swargate to Katraj. However, locals have been complaining for long that the cycle track obstructs traffic as it has been developed just before the beginning of the Saswad road flyover. They have been demanding that the width of the cycle track be reduced.
Sasane said, “We have received complaints from locals who have been demanding removal of the cycle track as it is creating traffic problems on the Pune-Solapur road near the Gadital flyover. We have received an application addressed to the road department regarding inconvenience caused by the cycle track. However, there has been no response from the administration. So, we have removed the cycle track for the convenience of residents.”
