PUNE: Due to lack of funds to acquire land for the Katraj-Kondhwa road-widening project, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has decided to complete tarring of the existing road instead of cement concretisation (CC) to avoid inconveniencing citizens.
The PMC’s project to widen the Katraj-Kondhwa road by 4km will not be completed within the deadline owing to land acquisition problems. Over a period of three years, the contractor has completed only 25% of the work and the project cost has also increased due to the delay. So, the corporation has decided to complete tarring of the existing road from Kakade vasti to Kondhwa and Shatrunjay mandir to Rajas society instead of cement concretisation. The PMC has also decided to construct a grade separator between Yewalewadi and Kondhwa. The standing committee has approved a proposal of ₹9.76 crore tabled by the road department of the corporation. The PMC has allocated ₹35 crore for the Katraj-Kondhwa road-widening project out of which, ₹9.76 crore will be used to complete tarring of the existing road instead of CC work.
Dhananjay Gaikwad, deputy engineer of the road department, said, “At present, the existing road is not in good condition. Local residents were demanding repair and maintenance of the existing road to avoid inconvenience to traffic. Actually, the Katraj-Kondhwa road-widening project includes cement concretisation of the road along with road-widening. However, the project affected people are demanding cash compensation and the cost works out more than the actual project cost. Therefore, the contractor will not be able to complete the project within the December 2021 deadline. Hence, the department has decided to complete tarring of the existing road.”
{{/usCountry}}Dhananjay Gaikwad, deputy engineer of the road department, said, “At present, the existing road is not in good condition. Local residents were demanding repair and maintenance of the existing road to avoid inconvenience to traffic. Actually, the Katraj-Kondhwa road-widening project includes cement concretisation of the road along with road-widening. However, the project affected people are demanding cash compensation and the cost works out more than the actual project cost. Therefore, the contractor will not be able to complete the project within the December 2021 deadline. Hence, the department has decided to complete tarring of the existing road.”
{{/usCountry}}The Katraj-Kondhwa road is one of the major roads that links the Satara road to Solapur road. Heavy traffic passes out of the city via this route from the westerly bypass to Solapur road. However, the road is too narrow (15m to 20m wide) and is always facing logjams along the 4km stretch between Kondhwa and Katraj junction that passes through Khadi machine chowk.
Fahim Mulla, a resident of Kondhwa said, “It is a practical decision of the administration to complete tarring of the road instead of CC as PMC does not know when they will get the land for road-widening. The decision is late but I welcome it. At least, we will get some kind of relief and a motorable road.”
Only 25% work complete
In December 2018, a PMC-appointed contractor began the work of widening the existing 3.5km Katraj-Kondhwa road (15 to 20m) to 84m. The project cost was ₹215 crore including GST. The deadline was fixed as December 2021.
However, nearly three years since, the contractor has completed only 25% of the work as the PMC is not able to hand over the land required for road-widening. The contractor has completed road-widening work in patches wherever land was made available for the purpose of widening.
PMC needs ₹700 crore for land acquisition
According to PMC road department officials, land acquisition will cost the administration ₹700 crore. Due to the financial crunch, it is not possible for the PMC to pay such a big amount as compensation.
Earlier, the PMC decided to implement the road-widening project with the deferred payment option - temporary postponement of the payment of an outstanding bill or debt, usually involving repayment by instalments. But, the PMC realised that they would have to pay an additional ₹100 crore to the contractor if they opted for the deferred payment mode. Hence, the option was discarded by the standing committee of the PMC.