Pimpri: The work of the Empire Estate flyover, built at Chinchwad by Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), is finally complete and Pune’s Guardian Minister Girish Bapat inaugurated the flyover on Monday. The flyover has been named after Mother Teresa. It is now open to the public.
Mayor Nitin Kalaje, BJP City President and MLA Laxman Jagtap, Mahesh Landge, Deputy Mayor Shailaja More, Standing Committee Chairperson Mamta Gaikwad, House Leader Eknath Pawar, Law Committee Chairperson Madhuri Kulkarni, Sports Committee Chairman Sanjay Nevale, Corporator Vilas Madigery, Sheetal Shinde were present at the inauguration.
The flyover is about 1600-metre long and was constructed under Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renovation Mission (JNNURM). The flyover connects Kalewadi Phata to Dehu-Alandi BRTS project, which is an 11 km stretch. This bridge was approved in 2010. The tender was released in 2011 and the actual work of the flyover began on April 6, 2011.
This flyover crosses the river, highway and railway line. Its width is 23 to 30 metres. This route includes an independent BRT lane and an independent road of 5.5 to 7-metre width for other vehicles. For pedestrians, there is a two-meter road on the Pavana river and railway bridge and four-wayside-mounted facilities are provided. There is a 1.8 metre-wide pedestrian and a separate road for bicycles on the flyover.
The flyover was planned during NCP rule and 80 per cent work of the flyover was completed. NCP leader Ajit Pawar had declared that the flyover will be named after Mother Teresa. Some organisations demanded that the bridge should be named after freedom fighter Lahuji Vastad Salve. But BJP leadership succeeded in overcoming this controversy and the bridge was named after Mother Teresa as decided earlier.
