In a first-of-its-kind initiative, the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) will develop 14 kilometres of street networks as ‘Harit (green) Setu (connecting link/s)’ or ‘green corridors’ to encourage the use of pavements amongst pedestrians and cyclists, and improve the environment quality and liveability of Pimpri-Chinchwad, civic officials said.
Following a study of public places and the movement of public in these areas, the PCMC has shortlisted five locations for the ‘green corridors’ namely the D Y Patil College stretch in Akurdi; D P Road in Pimple Nilakh; Nigdi Pradhikaran; Akurdi Station Road; and Bhondwe Chowk in Ravet. Whereas the pilot for the ‘Harit Setu’ masterplan will be implemented in the Nigdi area of PCMC in a couple of months, the same will be expanded to the other locations subsequently.
The greens for the ‘Harit Setu’ masterplan encompass gardens, residential areas, educational institutes, entertainment zones, nodes and shopping areas. The aim of the project is to create healthy, hygienic and humane neighbourhoods that promote walking and cycling networks in terms of work, business, education, entertainment, culture, recreation and leisure. By promoting walking and cycling networks, the project also aims to increase the share of non-motorised transport in the city while providing the shortest connectivity and reducing dependency on private motor vehicles, officials said.
Bapu Gaikwad, executive engineer, PCMC civil department, said that people have stopped using pavements and that they want the citizens to resume using pavements. “There are hundreds of citizens who daily visit government offices, railway stations, colleges, gardens and other institutes. The green corridors will connect these facilities/institutes. Nigdi has been selected for the pilot project as it has a large number of government offices and educational institutes,” Gaikwad said.
{{/usCountry}}Bapu Gaikwad, executive engineer, PCMC civil department, said that people have stopped using pavements and that they want the citizens to resume using pavements. “There are hundreds of citizens who daily visit government offices, railway stations, colleges, gardens and other institutes. The green corridors will connect these facilities/institutes. Nigdi has been selected for the pilot project as it has a large number of government offices and educational institutes,” Gaikwad said.
{{/usCountry}}A growing industrial hub, Pimpri-Chinchwad has come to be known as ‘a great city to work’. With more and more people choosing to stay in Pimpri-Chinchwad, the population too has increased which has necessitated a shift in focus from increasing employment opportunities to improving the overall quality of life in the twin city. The pavements under ‘Harit Setu’ will see plantation of trees and other vegetation and beautification among other things.
Sanjay Kulkarni, joint city engineer, PCMC, said, that under this initiative, multiple trees and other vegetation will be planted along the pavements in a manner so as to form a boulevard along the stretch. This will help reap other benefits such as protection of biodiversity, mitigation of the heat island effect, reduction of air and noise pollution etc. The project aims to afford PCMC the additional tag of ‘liveable city’ along with the existing ‘industrial city’ label that it has acquired, Kulkarni said.
“The objective of the project is to enhance the environment quality and liveability of the city. It will ensure safe movement of people between destinations and improve the share of non-motorised transport (NMT) by providing the shortest connectivity to users and reducing the use of private vehicles. A masterplan will be made to be implemented in other parts of the city as well. We hope this will bring behavioural change in citizens towards NMT and eventually, improve the air quality,” Kulkarni said.