Indian Express 15.04.2010
Civic body nod for 30-km inner ring road, 52-km monorail
Express News Service Tags : HCMTR, roads Posted: Thursday , Apr 15, 2010 at 0411 hrs
Pune: A high-capacity mass transit route (HCMTR) to execute an “inner ring road” and a monorail above the same ring road are two build-operate-transfer (BOT) projects approved by the BOT committee of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Tuesday.A 22-km monorail has also been approved between Warje and Kharadi; the total length of the monorail is now being pegged at 52 km with 30 km coming above the inner ring road. These projects are proposed to be carried out in what the PMC has termed as the design-build-operate-own-transfer (DBOOT) model.
The decision, in effect, is a follow-up of the 1987 development plan of Pune that had earmarked a high capacity mass transit route connecting Bopodi and Hadapsar. The plan had underlined the need to execute an “inner ring road” project linking various thoroughfares within the municipal limits.
The state town planning department had worked out a detailed route of the inner ring road that will pass through various congested areas in the city and link the main thoroughfares. However, the execution of the 1987 plan, which would have helped speedy connectivity within city limits, was put on the backburner. However, on Tuesday, the civic committee took a decision to clear the HCMTR project, of which the inner ring road is an integral part. “The committee unanimously cleared the proposal to construct a ring road, which is part of the HCMTR project. We suggested that the agency that would get the project for implementation would have to execute all the aspects of the project. It entails getting permission from the government machinery, preparing a project report, tendering, as well as the execution part of it. There will not be a separate consulting agency appointed, as the same agency has to do all the work,” Mayor Mohansingh Rajpal told the media on Wednesday.
“Both the ring road and monorail projects will be executed in a DBOOT manner. These proposals were pending for a long time and have been cleared now, keeping in mind the requirements of citizens. The cost details will be decided by the agency taking up the project for implementation,” BOT committee member Nilesh Nikam said.
The proposals to construct a skywalk on the Shivajinagar-Shaniwarwada route as well as on the Swargate-Mahatma Phule Mandai route have also been cleared. “Since both the roads witness a huge rush of vehicles and pedestrians, it will lead to huge traffic snarls. Hence the skywalks,” Rajpal said.
Also proposed
Multi-storeyed mechanised parking facility in Budhwar Peth
A pedestrian bridge near Katraj Dairy
Water vending machines in civic gardens
