E-Paper
Pune civic body initiates land acquisition work on Katraj-Kondhwa Road
Groundbreaking of the road was carried out in 2018 by the then chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. However, work on the road was not able to begin due to various reasons, including land acquisition
After receiving funds from the State government, the Pune Municipal Corporation began the land acquisition process for the long-pending Katraj-Kondhwa Road. Last week, the State handed over ₹139 crore to the civic authorities to expedite the procedure.
A PMC official on condition of anonymity stated, “The work was primarily halted due to a land acquisition issue. The state government granted over ₹140 crore to the PMC for acquisition of land.”
Groundbreaking of the road was carried out in 2018 by the then chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. However, work on the road was not able to begin due to various reasons. In the meantime, landowners began demanding cash compensation for their land to be acquired for this road. As land acquisition costs were steep, the state government agreed to bear them.
BJP leader Yogesh Tilekar who has been following up on the issue for the last many years said, “The state government approved funds for this road but wasn’t able to release the same for the last many years. The ruling state government approved the funds before the Lok Sabha (LS) elections but was unable to release them due to the model code of conduct.”
“Deputy chief ministers Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar took a lot of efforts to get these funds. They even visited the project site,” Tilekar said.
The Katraj-Kondhwa Road is an arterial road linking Satara Road to Solapur Road. While the road sees heavy outbound traffic from the westerly bypass to Solapur Road, it is only 15 to 20 metres wide and faces severe traffic congestion along the 3.5 km stretch from Kondhwa to Katraj junction through Khadi Machine Chowk.
In December 2018, a PMC-appointed contractor had started widening the road from the existing 15-20 metres to 84 metres. The project cost including goods and services tax (GST) was estimated to be ₹215 crore and the deadline for completion of the project was set as December 2021. Thereafter, the PMC decided to reduce the width of the road to 50 metres, down from the 84 metres proposed earlier as it was burdening the PMC coffers.
