Indian Express 20.01.2010
Corporator’s query reveals civic body yet to get cracking on river transport proposal
Even though it has been quite a while since talk about initiating water transport in Pune along the Mutha River has been on, it has now come to light that till date, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has not prepared any proposal to this effect.
This has come to light in an answer to a query filed by corporator Ujjwal Keskar. ‘What happened to the proposal of water transport?’ Keskar asked in a written query, to which the civic administration has replied, ‘No such proposal exists.’ However, to another query, ‘Has it been included in the Comprehensive Mobility Plan (CMP) of the city?’ the PMC has answered in the affirmative.
Immediately after coming to power in the PMC, the NCP had shown interest in initiating water transport. The then mayor Rajlaxmi Bhosale and commissioner Praveensinh Pardeshi had taken a keen interest in taking this concept further. The Naik Environment Research Institute had also conducted a survey and submitted its report to the civic body.
The civic administration had also made a presentation regarding this before the civic standing committee.
As per the preliminary projections, the water transport is to be developed for a 27-km distance from Warje to Kharadi and will enable 65,000 people to commute every day at a cost of Rs 15 per person.
The water level will be kept at three metres for the water transport and it would help in beautifying the Mutha river.
