The Times of India            01.10.2013 

Civic body starts school at Sundew apartments

PUNE: Nearly two years after the Supreme Court order to start a school at the controversial Sundew apartments, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Monday started a school here with 26 students in attendance.

Sundew apartment was built by Girish Vyas, son-in-law of former chief minister Manohar Joshi, on the land reserved for a school. Activists in the city had then sought the apex court's intervention in the matter.

The Supreme Court, on October 12, 2011, ordered that the building should be either handed over to the civic body or be demolished. Following the order, Vyas had surrendered the 11-storeyed building to the PMC.

"We have started a nursery school in the building. So far, as many as 26 students have been admitted in the school. Education for higher classes will also come up at the school in due course of time," said PMC education officer Shivaji Daundkar.

Daundkar said the civic body is also planning to start Marathi medium and English medium schools in the building. "Necessary renovations have been done on the first four floors of the building. An e-learning school is also proposed," he said.

Civic officials said renovations have been done for the educational institution and the building will undergo some more changes in future. "There are strict regulations for constructing school buildings. The parameters of building staircases or elevators in schools are different from that of residential or commercial complexes. A few changes in the structure of the building will be done before starting a full-fledged school," an official said.

The Indian Express            01.10.2013

Swargate to Pimpri-Chinchwad Metro gets state nod

Putting an end to the debate on underground or elevated Metro in the city, the state government on Monday approved the 16.59-km route from Swargate to Pimpri Chinchwad that was awaiting clearance for a long time. The delay is estimated to cost Rs 2,199 crore more than the initial estimated cost of the two routes from Swargate to Pimpri Chinchwad and Vanaz to Ramwadi.

The proposal for the first route, connecting Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), was pending due to lack of consensus in two neighbouring civic bodies over sharing of project cost. The state cabinet had in June last year approved the 14.92-km route from Vanaz to Ramwadi.

There would be 15 stations on the route from Swargate to Pimpri Chinchwad, including Mandai, Budhwar Peth, PMC building, ASI, Shivajinagar, Range Hills, Khadki, Bopodi, Dapodi, Phugewadi, Kasarwadi, Bhosari and Sant Tukaramnagar. The route from Swargate to Pimpri Chinchwad would be underground and elevated in some places.

With many other cities being ahead in implementation of Metro project, NCP chief and Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar had decided to take up the issue the state and Central government. The project got impetus in January this year after a delegation led by Pawar met Union Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath over clearing the project of Pune Metro.

On instructions of the Central government, a plan was prepared to complete the process along with revised proposal of the project before it is sent to it for final approval and seeking budgetary allocation.

As per the state government decision, the project cost for the two routes would be Rs 10,183 crore, including Rs 6,960 crore from Swargate to Pimpri Chinchwad and Rs 3,223 crore for Vanaz to Ramwadi route till 2021.

The revised costs for corridors 1 (Pimpri-Chinchwad-Swargate) and 2 (Vanaz-Ramwadi) have been pegged at Rs 6,960 crore and Rs 3,223 crore respectively, up from Rs 5,391 crore and Rs 2,593 crore proposed by DMRC in 2009. The civic administration said the earlier estimate was based on the cost of construction material in 2009; the revised estimate is based on 2013 costs, and factors in an increase of 7.5 per cent per annum until the completion of the project. "The state government has cleared the Metro project and now awaits clearance of Central government for its implementation," said a PMC official.

Implementation of the project would be done by forming a company, Pune Mahanagar Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. The Union and state governments would pay 20 per cent each of the project cost and the PMC and PCMC would take the responsibility of contributing 10 per cent of project cost in their jurisdiction, while the remaining 50 per cent of the cost would be raised through loans.

The PMC and the new company are being given the responsibility of communicating with the state and Union governments for speedier implementation of project.

'Metro project to give much-needed push to city's infrastructure'

The decision of the state Cabinet to clear the proposal of the first corridor of Pune Metro has been welcomed by industry and realtors. While industry watchers said this would help in providing better infrastructure in the area, many believe it will give a boost to the growth of the city.

The Vanaz Ramwadi corridor is the first phase of the Pune Metro, which is expected to be operational from 2012. The elevated corridor would pass from cardinal roads and have stations at 1-km distance of the 14-km stretch.

Welcoming the decision, Rohit Gera, managing director of Gera Developers, said a modern mass transit system like Metro is the need of the hour. "This will help in solving the acute traffic problem in the city," he said.

Gera, however, ruled out a spiralling rise in price of land near the corridor. "Prices would increase near the stations as densification is necessary there, but along the corridor, there would not be any significant appreciation of land price."

Kruti Jain, director of Kumar Urban Development Limited, said: "This would help decongest roads and improve public transport in the city."