The Indian Express             21.11.2013 

PCMC approves Rs 10 crore to build 26 more stations on BRTS routes

The standing committee of the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) on Tuesday approved Rs 10 crore for construction of 26 more bus stations for the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS). The stations will be constructed on Aundh-Ravet and Dapodi-Nigdi routes, said standing committee chairman Navnath Jagtap.

The panel had recently approved Rs 7 crore for 14 BRTS bus stations on the Sangvi-Kivale route. PCMC officials said the proposed Nigdi-Dapodi and Sangvi-Kivale routes will go on stream by March 2014 and the Aundh-Ravet by April 2014.

PCMC is constructing four BRTS routes in the civic limits under the first phase of Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission. The four routes are Nigdi-Dapodi on Pune-Mumbai highway, Aundh-Ravet Road, Kalewadi Phata-Dehu Alandi Road and Wakad-Nashik Phata. In the second phase, PCMC has proposed Nigdi-Kivale BRTS route.

PCMC first began work on the Nigdi-Dapodi route. This was done as the civic administration had widened the 13-km stretch on Pune-Mumbai Highway from Nigdi to Dapodi from four to eight lanes about six years ago. The highway has been widened to 61 metres. There are two-lane service roads on both sides of the highway. One lane is for the BRTS buses, while the other is for other vehicular traffic.

PCMC officials said each bus station will cost around Rs 50 lakh. Currently, the work of constructing bus shelters is underway. In all, civic officials said PCMC will construct 73 bus stations on the four BRTS corridors at a cost of Rs 33 crore.

Official said 19 bus stations are coming up each on the Pune-Mumbai Highway and the Aundh-Ravet Road, 20 on the Kalewadi Phata-Dehu Alandi Road and 15 more on the Nashik Phata-Wakad Road.

Officials said all bus stations will be uniform in size. Each bus station will be 53 metres long and four metres wide, with a total area of around 2,000 sq ft. A ramp, foundation and automatic doors will also be set up. The bus stations will be built using pre-cast structure technology.