E-Paper
PMRDA Metro to reduce width of barricades to ease traffic congestion
PMRDA Metro will follow directions of Pune traffic police and reduce the width of barricades on Ganeshkhind Road from the existing 11 metres to seven metres
PUNE: The Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) Metro has agreed to follow the directions of the Pune traffic police and reduce the width of barricades on Ganeshkhind Road from the existing 11 metres to seven metres. Only after the width is reduced and police inspection is carried out will the metro line between Hinjewadi and Shivajinagar – which has remained closed for over two weeks – be opened to the public.
While the width of Ganeshkhind Road as per the development plan (DP) should be 45 metres, its current width is only 36 metres. As such, commuters are already facing considerable traffic congestion, especially along the one-kilometre stretch between Pune University Chowk and Central Mall Chowk. On top of that, if 11 metre-wide PMRDA Metro barricades are placed, the road will become even narrower leading to acute traffic congestion according to the Pune traffic police.
Whereas PMRDA Metro officials said that the G20 Conference and various palkhi processions have already caused delay in the metro work and with the traffic police demanding a decrease in the width of the barricades, there will be further delay in the metro work.
Recently, the PMRDA Metro held a meeting with deputy commissioner of traffic police Vijay Magar in which the former finally responded positively to reducing the barricade width. Pune municipal commissioner Vikram Kumar, too, suggested that the PMRDA Metro keep the width of the barricades to a minimum until the road is widened.
Sumit Yadav, a junior engineer of the PMRDA Metro, said, “Following the instructions of the Pune traffic police, we will reduce the width of the barricades. We will do so and show it to the traffic police before starting the metro work.”
Meanwhile, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has undertaken the task of widening Ganeshkhind Road. Out of the 23 private and semi-government properties involved, PMC has so far got approval from nine property owners to widen the road from the current 36 to 45 metres. The PMC has also given landowners the option of receiving cash compensation instead of floor space index (FSI) or transfer development rights (TDR) in return for their land. The PMC has made it clear that the PMRDA Metro should provide funds to acquire the land.
The PMRDA is constructing the Shivajinagar-Hinjewadi line which will be an elevated line stretching from Hinjewadi to Shivajinagar. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had performed the ground breaking ceremony for this project. The Hinjewadi-Shivajinagar metro line is 23.2 kilometres long, elevated throughout, and has a total 23 stations.
