E-Paper
Pune ring road project: Farmer gets Rs5.65 crore for 2.05 acres
MSRDC gives Rs5.65 crore compensation to an Urse farmer for 2.05 acres acquired for ring road project
The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) has started granting compensation to farmers for the ring road project and the first award of rupees five crore sixty-five lakh and ninety-two thousand (Rs5.65 crore) has been given to a farmer from Urse for 2.05 acre land. Maval Mulshi sub-divisional officer Sandesh Shirke confirmed that the first compensation of Rs5.65 crore has been given to the Urse farmer for acquiring 2.05 acre of land. “As per the state government decision, the chief minister has sanctioned funds for land acquisition of the ring road project. We have given compensation to one farmer on a figurative basis and the final list of compensation is being readied. It will take a week’s time for finalisation of compensation details for the entire project,” Shirke said.
After the state cabinet decided to award five times the compensation to farmers against their land, farmers started handing over their land to the administration. Accordingly, several land parcels in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad have been taken over by the state government for its ambitious ring road project.
The ring road project has been divided into the eastern and western zones, wherein the eastern zone comprises Maval and Kelawade while the western zone comprises Bhor, Haveli and Mulshi talukas of the district. Additionally, acquisition of 395 hectare of land has to be carried out in 37 villages along Sinhagad road. The administration has completed measurement of land in 36 out of the 37 villages, and preparations are underway for awarding compensation. The state government has made a provision of Rs1,500 crore for land acquisition along Sinhagad road, and Rs250 crore has been credited to the account of the Pune district collectorate for the first phase. According to finance department officials, availability of funds will now make land acquisition swifter than proposed. The district administration initiated the sale agreement related to land acquisition for the ring road project from March 21.
The 170 km-long Pune ring road will be an eight-lane express highway catering to vehicle speeds of 120 km per hour. The Pune ring road is the proposed circular outer road for the Pune Metropolitan Region (PMR) and had earlier faced resistance from the locals. The basic infrastructure committee of the state government on August 25 last year gave its in-principle approval to the implementation of the project. The ring road project will split the city and highway traffic, and help in considerable reduction of vehicular pollution. The state administration has stated that the mega project is needed to decongest roads by diverting traffic passing through Pune enroute to other areas in Maharashtra. Existing roads in the city cannot be widened due to the dense urban agglomeration. The interstate and ‘within the state’ traffic flow is extremely high in Pune as three major national highways including Mumbai-Bangalore, Mumbai-Hyderabad-Vijayawada, and Pune-Nashik; and other state highways such as Pune-Pandharpur, Pune-Aurangabad, and Pune-Mangaon pass through Pune, adding to the heavy volume of traffic in the Pune metropolitan area.
