No metro station near Aga Khan palace, alternate routes suggested
A senior Maha-Metro official requesting anonymity, said, “As per the first option, the Metro route will be diverted from the Kalyaninagar Metro station. The second option involves diverting the route from Gunjan chowk and the third option involves diverting the route from the Bund Garden Metro station along the south bank of the Mutha river.”
Maharashtra metro rail corporation limited (Maha-Metro) submitted three alternate routes for the Vanaz to Ramwadi Metro line to the Pune municipal corporation (PMC) on September 29, after the national monuments authority (NMA) turned down the proposal to build the metro rail network near Aga Khan palace on Ahmednagar road as it was passing through a protected monument. Maha-Metro is considering three alternate routes, which includes diverting the line through Gunjan talkies, Kalyaninagar or Bund Garden.
Maha-Metro officials said that diverting the line and implementing any of the above proposed three alternate routes will increase the cost of the metro project by ₹185 crore (current estimated cost of project is ₹3,849 crore). Hence, in the first week of October, Maha-Metro also approached the NMA to reconsider its decision.
In September, the NMA, while citing the ancient monuments and archaeological sites and remains Act of 1958, objected to the proposed metro work near Aga Khan palace, built in 1892 by Sultan Muhammed Shah Aga Khan II. During the freedom struggle, the palace was closely associated with the movement as it served as prison for Mahatma Gandhi. According to NMA, the metro route falls within the prohibitory area (as per the ancient monuments and archaeological sites and remains Act of 1958, which was amended in 2010, no construction of any kind is allowed in a prohibited area within 100 metres of a nationally protected monument), while Maha-Metro officials maintain that only the compound wall of the palace comes under the 100-metre prohibitory area.
Hemant Sonawane, general manager of public relations of Maha-Metro, said, “After the NMA rejected our proposal, we have asked the authority to reconsider its decision. Considering our request, a team from NMA visited the site proposed for construction in the second week of October. While we haven’t received any response from the NMA so far, however, three different options are under consideration for the metro route.”
If the NMA rejects the proposal in its final report, Maha-Metro will consider diverting the line through the three proposed routes. “On September 29, we wrote to the PMC seeking their response on the three alternate routes if the NMA rejects our proposal in its final order. However, the proposed changes in the route alignment will lead to an increase of nearly ₹185 crore in the project cost,” said Sonawane.
According to Maha-Metro officials, they were in constant touch with the PMC administration regarding the three proposed routes, said Sonawane.
A senior Maha-Metro official requesting anonymity, said, “As per the first option, the Metro route will be diverted from the Kalyaninagar Metro station. The second option involves diverting the route from Gunjan chowk and the third option involves diverting the route from the Bund Garden Metro station along the south bank of the Mutha river.”
Passengers will get modern facilities at the metro station which is going to be built near the Pune municipal corporation, according to a Maha-Metro statement. The metro station will have additional space for parking vehicles and a LED screen will be installed at the station to display information about the metro line for the passengers. The station will also have amenities like Wi-Fi, cafeteria among others.
Line 2 consists of following stations
Vanaz, Anandnagar, Ideal colony, Nal Stop, Garware college, Deccan Gymkhana, Chhatrapati Sambhaji Udyan, PMC, civil court, Mangalwar peth, Pune railway station, Ruby Hall Clinic, Bund Garden, Yerawada, Kalyaninagar and Ramwadi.