In the last general body meeting, corporators objected to the pending work of Swargate flyover and sought explanation about changing the design of Satara Road’s Hadapasar flyover, which led to cost escalation of the project. The report by the traffic cell states that during the work they could not acquire the land of Shakan Maharaj Math for Satara Road flyover’s work from Chavan Nagar to Bharati Vidyapeeth. The design was changed which increased the cost by around Rs 8 crore.
As the traffic cell report states that there are bus stands, school and police station located at the Swargate flyover, it was difficult to conduct work. Work was conducted in the phased manner and hence it has been extended. Currently, 90 per cent of the work has been completed and it is in the final stages.
The new Pune-Solapur flyover at Hadapsar connects to the old flyover. For construction work, the traffic cell demanded closure of the old flyover for three months but the traffic police rejected the application, given the traffic chaos. So, work has been planned by using prefabricated steel guarder, which has increased the cost by around Rs 2 crore.
Rajendra Wagaskar, a Maharashtra Navnirman Sena corporator, said, “The entire flyover report is bogus and misleading the facts. By spending crores of rupees, the traffic cell has appointed consultants for flyover. Actually, all these problems like traffic or land acquisition are expected to be sorted out during the planning stage. As the design was changed during the construction work, the cost of project escalated. It is a sheer wastage of public fund.“
“This report will be discussed at the upcoming City Improvement Committee (CIC) meeting on Friday. We will decide the future course of action at the meeting. In case of changing a design, the administration should inform and give a clear idea about the project,“ said Rupali Patil, chairman, CIC and MNS corporator.
“Changes in the design during the construction clearly show poor planning of PMC administration. The work is in the process for last four years. Concerned officials failed to the follow-sup on the project. A local member of the legislative Assembly has decided to intervene in this issue,“ said Mukta Tilak, BJP corporator.
“We are not satisfied with the report. In the next two days the administration is going to give the presentation about the flyover. Issues will be resolved in the presentation,“ said Ashok Harnawal, Shiv Sena corporator.
“The project is very essential to resolve the traffic problem at Swargate. We agree it took much time to complete the project but in the recent meeting, the administrative assured that work is in the final stages and it will be completed soon,“ said Subhash Jagtap, National Congress Party corporator.
Senior official of the traffic cell department, PMC, on condition of anonymity, “Detailed explanation has been given about every flyover of the city. Before commencement of work, several meetings were conducted with the residents regarding land acquisition. During the work, many people objected, so the design was changed. A meeting was called to discuss the issues and we have updated in time about the development of the project work. The commission of the consultant has been paid as per the norms.“
Source : Pune Mirror
