'CM asked PMO to accelerate Hinjawadi-Shivajinagar corridor'

'CM asked PMO to accelerate Hinjawadi-Shivajinagar corridor'

Pune: Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has written to the Prime Minister’s Office to expedite progress of the Hinjawadi-Shivajinagar metro corridor so that it catches up with the progress of the Ramwadi-Vanaaz and PCMC-Swargate corridor.

While the Ramwadi-Vanaaz and PCMC-Swargate corridors are to be developed by Mahametro, the Hinjawadi-Shivajinagar corridor is to be developed by Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA).

Mahametro has already started civil work and has awarded tenders for building metro stations. Mahametro officials said that work on the stations will start in the second week of January.

Speaking on the progress of the Hinjawadi-Shivajinagar corridor, PMRDA Chief Kiran Gitte said that the project is in its final stage of approval. “Niti Aayog has approved our metro project. Approval is pending at the Ministry of Urban Development and the Finance Department, after which PMRDA will start the bidding process. As it is necessary that all three metro projects are in sync, the Chief Minister had written a letter to the PMO’s office to accelerate the approval process,” said Gitte.

The 23.3-km long metro line will cost around Rs 8,313 crore. Gitte said that Rs 1,137 crore will be provided by the Centre and Rs 6,000 crore needs to be raised. Recently, the State government decided not to provide a viability gap funding (VGF) of Rs 812 crore from its share and allowed the PMRDA to raise the amount from commercial development of private and public land, which will be allotted for the project. “We are raising money through various land monetisation schemes. We had put seven tracts of land for auction on the Internet. Around 2,303 people visited the auction page, of which 63 paid the basic fee and 12 people bid for the project. We have pushed back the last date of auction by ten days to receive good response. Pune has a lot of land and we should not face any problem in raising money,” added Gitte.

Speaking on the inter-dependency of PMRDA and Mahametro on the three projects, officials of Mahametro said that there is no dependency for work. “Though all three lines will be joining at civil court near Shivajinagar, there is no dependency of work,” added an official from Mahametro. However, a senior official from Mahametro said that they have planned to provide a facility of one-ticket system for all the public transport facilities and all lines starting at the same time will benefit people.

Enjoyed reading The Bridge Chronicle?
Your support motivates us to do better. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to stay updated with the latest stories.
You can also read on the go with our Android and iOS mobile app.

Related Stories

No stories found.
logo
The Bridge Chronicle
www.thebridgechronicle.com