PMC likely to take decision on Ahmednagar Road BRTS plan by Friday
The upcoming G20 meeting in the city has prompted the authorities to take a decision to scrap the Ahmednagar Road bus rapid transit (BRT) project
The upcoming G20 meeting in the city has prompted the authorities to take a decision to scrap the Ahmednagar Road bus rapid transit (BRT) project. Authorities said a final decision is likely to be taken by Friday.
The officials of Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) and Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) had visited the BRT route last month.
The civic body highlighted the issue at a meeting as the proposed visit route of G20 delegation next week includes Ahmednagar Road.
The BRTS works on Yerawada (Parmakuti Chowk) Aple Ghar (old PMC limit) route is progressing slow due to ongoing metro work, causing traffic congestion and public inconvenience. Wadgaonsheri constituency Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) Sunil Tingre raised the issue at the assembly session. Ajit Pawar, leader of the Opposition, also expressed concerns after inspecting the Ahmednagar Road BRTS.
Activists claim that the BRTS plan is also causing obstruction to rainwater flow.
Later, Pune municipal commissioner Vikram Kumar discussed the issue with the PMPML board of directors and decided to inspect the spot. In May, a committee comprising Anant Waghmare from PMPML; Sharad Dharav, executive engineer, PMC road department and PMPML field officers visited the Ahmednagar Road BRTS project and orally gave their opinion to senior officials.
With Ahmednagar Road as one of the stretches in the city to be beautified as part of the G20 preparations, PMC is facing a dilemma of whether to scrap the BRT system and focus on enhancing the road’s aesthetics or continue beautification without scrapping the travel corridor.
Vikas Dhakne, additional municipal commissioner, said. “The final decision will be taken by the civic chief in a couple of days to scrap or continue the BRTS plan.”
Omprakash Bakoria, chairman and managing director (CMD), PMPML, said, “As we are a major player in BRTS project, a final decision will be taken after seeking our suggestion. No official committee has been formed for the Ahmednagar Road BRTS plan as of now.”
The public transport utility officials said that work on the Parnakuti (Yerawada) to Vimannagar Chowk BRTS route is only hit due to the metro work. The progress of laying the Vimanagar Chowk to Aple Ghar Area stretch near the old octroi post is going as per schedule.
“There is no need to scrap the BRTS plan for only 2.5 kilometre (Km) of idle stretch of the total 7.5 km route,” an official said, adding that it would not be a practical and financially viable decision to scrap the plan now. As the Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation Limited (Maha-Metro) is expected to finish the pillar work at BRTS route on Ahmednagar Road in a few months, the idle BRTS stretch will be also completed soon,” an official said.
Waghmare, manager, BRTS, PMPML, said, “BRTS has a lot of benefits. It is an economical mode of transport with bus punctuality, less trip cancellation, less bus maintenance, high mileage, saving journey time and less accident cases.”
He said, “Our buses run 30 kilometre per hour on BRTS route as compared to 12 km/hour on regular roads.”
A senior PMC official said, “We had already spent around ₹22 lakh on the maintenance of Ahmednagar Road BRTS. However, political pressure and G20 event are forcing the civic administration to take a final decision on BRTS plan.”
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