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Nodal officer to oversee electric works for widening of Katraj-Kondhwa Road, 50 wardens to man traffic
MSEDCL has deputed a nodal officer to oversee electrical works of Katraj-Kondhwa road widening project, and 50 personnel have been assigned to manage traffic
Pune: After Pune district guardian minister Chandrakant Patil’s recent instructions to the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) to complete the widening of the Katraj-Kondhwa Road, the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company (MSEDCL) has deputed a nodal officer to oversee electrical works of the project.
Rajendra Pawar, chief engineer, MSEDCL Pune Circle, said, “We have deputed Ravindra Avhad, executive engineer of the Padmavati division of MSEDCL, as nodal officer to handle electrical works such as shifting of electric poles etc. He will supervise all electrical work for the widening of the Katraj-Kondhwa Road.” According to Avhad, the estimated cost of shifting electric service lines for widening the road is ₹1.50 crore.
Sudhir Chavan, executive engineer, PMC road department, who is handling the project, said, “The PMC will add ₹80 crore to the state government funding. All the funds will be used to offer cash compensation to property holders affected by the widening of the road. We have completed the road widening work in patches and it is about one kilometre. The project was delayed because the property holders affected by the widening of the road demanded cash compensation. PMC will offer cash compensation to around 138 property holders. The state has approved ₹200 crore for land acquisition. However, PMC has not received the money yet,” Chavan said.
“There are around 40 electric poles along the 3.5-kilometre Katraj to Kondhwa stretch. Of these, nearly 10 to 20 poles belong to PMC whereas the remaining poles belong to MSEDCL. MSEDCL has started the work of shifting electric cables etc,” he 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 through Khadi Machine Chowk to Katraj Junction. In December 2018, a PMC-appointed contractor had started widening the road from the existing 15 to 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. However, the work ground to a halt last year as the PMC did not have funds to acquire land for the project. Thereafter, the PMC decided to increase the width of the road to only 50 metres, down from the earlier 84 metres as this was burdening the PMC coffers. The PMC also approached the state government to provide funds for land acquisition. Now, the state government has agreed to provide ₹200 crore for the same.
Additionally, 50 traffic police personnel have been assigned to manage traffic, and the nodal officer has also been designated for land acquisition, said Pune district collector Rajesh Deshmukh in a statement. Recently, Patil conducted an inspection of the road considering the rise in number of accidents.
Meanwhile, Baramati MP Supriya Sule on Thursday visited Katraj-Kondhwa Road and expressed concern over the persistent traffic congestion and hardships faced by citizens. She also listened to the several issues faced by them.
