E-Paper
Tenders for Balbharti-Paud Road soon, PMC working on estimated cost
The 2.1 km road will be built between Kelewadi junction on Paud road and Balbharti office on Senapati Bapat road and will pass through the hill behind Law College
Tenders for the 2.1 km Balbharti-Paud road are likely to be floated soon, with the administration working out the estimated cost of the project. Road department head V G Kulkarni confirmed the news and said, “The PMC is working out the estimated cost of the project. We are considering all options and will take a call about which type of road needs to be constructed. We are expecting everything to be finalised in a week or two, after which tenders for the same will be floated.”
In a recent survey, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) invited the citizens’ feedback on the project. The Balbharti-Paud road was proposed in 1987 by the PMC and was intended to reduce the traffic on Law College road. However, a public interest litigation (PIL) was filed against the project by an environmental activist from the Nagrik Chetna Manch, which was later dismissed by the high court (HC). The PMC then formed a committee for the project in 2019. However, the committee members alleged that the civic body did not follow the HC’s directions.
The 2.1 km road will be built between Kelewadi junction on Paud road and Balbharti office on Senapati Bapat road and will pass through the hill behind Law College. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is in favour of this road and even made budgetary provision for it during their tenure. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar on Sunday indirectly gave the green signal to the project and alleged that projects do not move fast in Pune because of too many varied opinions. Even the Pune metro was delayed in Pune due to opposition from the then BJP MP to the elevated metro, he said. In 2002, the cost of the project had already risen to Rs24 crore which is now expected to increase even more.
