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Civic chief visits Katraj-Kondhwa road site, instructs officials to speed up land acquisition
As the state government has approved ₹200 crore for the 3.5km long and 50m wide road, the civic chief has instructed officials to speed up land acquisition
Pune: Pune municipal commissioner Vikram Kumar on Tuesday visited the Katraj-Kondhwa road widening site and met some owners who will have to give up the property for the project.
As the state government has approved ₹200 crore for the 3.5km long and 50m wide road, the civic chief has instructed officials to speed up land acquisition.
With the busy stretch connecting Kondhwa and Katraj facing regular traffic jams with narrow drive at some places, commuters have been demanding widening of the road.
In 2018, the then chief minister Devendra Fadnavis performed the groundbreaking ceremony of the road widening project. As per the original plan, the road’s width was 84 metres and land acquisition cost was ₹710 crore. Considering the high cost of acquiring land for the plan, PMC reduced the road width to 50 metres and land acquisition cost was estimated to be ₹280 crore.
With many landowners demanding cash compensation, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) appealed to the state government for financial assistance.
The state government on July 17 approved ₹200 crore for the proposed Katraj-Kondhwa Road.
Kumar said, “As the state will release funds for the project, officers have been told to speed up land acquisition process. While owners with large land will get some cash compensation, the rest would be compensated as per the Transfer of Development Rights (TDR).”
Vikas Dhakne, additional municipal commissioner, said, “PMC plans to execute the project in three phases. In the first phase, landowners will be given ₹15 crore and project cost will be ₹27 crore. Owners with five-acre property will be issued TDR in the second phase. In the last stage, PMC will pay ₹97 crore to 36 landowners.”
VJ Kulkarni, head, PMC road department, said, “The municipal commissioner and additional commissioner visited the site on Tuesday morning. The project will see marked progress in the next two weeks. PMC has dropped cycle tracks, footpaths and green track for plantations planned on the stretch as its width has been reduced.”
