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After missing five deadlines, Satara road BRTS to open from Jan 1
After four years and five deadlines, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) will finally reopen the bus rapid transit corridor (BRTS) between Katraj and Swargate on
After four years and five deadlines, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) will finally reopen the bus rapid transit corridor (BRTS) between Katraj and Swargate on Satara road from January 1.
The announcement came on Monday after municipal commissioner Vikram Kumar, Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) chairman and managing director Rajendra Jagtap and mayor Murlidhar Mohol inspected the stretch and asked the administration to clear it for public transport from January 1.
“Most of the BRTS work has already been completed on this corridor and we are starting operations from January 1. The work on this stretch got delayed even as the tenders for BRTS work were floated in 2016. Due to technical reasons, PMC did the re-tendering process in 2018. However, due to two flyover works located at Swargate and Shankarmaharaj math, the BRTS work got delayed,” said Mohol.
The BRTS corridor was India’s first pilot BRTS, originally started in 2007, though it had to be stopped for traffic due to several issues including bus stops and alignment of stretch.
Due to several errors, the corridor became an accident spot and many citizens lost their lives. In the last two years, PMC had set four deadlines for restarting the BRTS operations, but was not able to kick start the project.
The PMC has spent more than Rs 100 crore for revamping the corridor, which is around 5.5km long.
Meanwhile, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has demanded inquiry of BRTS work in the city.
NCP Parvati assembly constituency president Nitin Kadam said, “PMC has spent almost Rs100 crore for repairing this corridor. The work got delayed for four years we are demanding the civic body to start operations immediately or demolish the BRTS corridor.”
Deadlines missed
May 31, 2018
August 1, 2018
December 2018
March 2019
May 2020
