Pune civic body proposes new metro

With the Metro project materialising on cityscape, the demand for more connecting routes has seen a rise. Taking these requests into consideration, Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) commissioner has proposed a ring Metro route connecting the outer circle of the city along with the start and end points of the existing routes. While the MahaMetro has welcomed the proposal, opposition leaders have questioned the feasibility of the project and have said that this is yet another attempt to please the leaders at the state and Centre. Commissioner’s proposal has come at a time when the work on Vanaz- Ramwadi and Pimpri-Swargate routes has picked up pace, and a third route connecting Hinjawadi is being planned. This burgeoning development will now include the new 44-km ring route, which seems to be PMC’s newest quest. Commissioner Kunal Kumar said, “Currently, work on two metro routes is in progress. But, we need to connect them to the other parts of the city, for which a ring Metro route has been proposed. We are hoping that the feasibility report for this will be prepared soon, following which a detailed report will be produced. This route will pass through areas like Hadapsar and Katraj where Metro routes have not been proposed. Ring Metro will ensure connectivity as it will branch to current stations.” MahaMetro managing director Brijesh Dixit welcomed the decision, saying, that by looking at Pune’s traffic situation, public transport needs to be accessible from every 500 metres. “The ring Metro route will be a good initiative. If the civic body is proposing it, we would like to take it up,” he said. Arvind Shinde, Congress leader from PMC, however claimed that this is yet another attempt to please the Bharatiya Janata Party leaders. He said, “PMC commissioner in his speech today claimed that there is deficit of funds and despite saying that he is proposing this new project? If there are no funds how is planning to complete this? This commissioner has been trying to materialise projects proposed or ideated by the Central or state government.” He further asked if the commissioner was planning to take more loans like he did for the 24x7 water supply project. Furthermore, he added that even if he procures loans, these new projects are not profitable for the civic body. “Metro is not going to be a source of income for PMC. How is he planning to do it then? We are not against Metro, but the question of how the ring route is going to be done prevails,” Shinde added.