Pune: PMC Starts Shastri Nagar Flyover Work Amid Nagar Road Citizens Opposition
Pune: PMC Starts Shastri Nagar Flyover Work Amid Nagar Road Citizens Opposition
Renuka Suryavanshi
Pune, May 8, 2025: Despite consistent demands from citizens for a Comprehensive Master Plan, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has gone ahead with the installation of a notice board and initiated startup and excavation work for the proposed Y-shaped flyover and grade-separator at Shastrinagar. Citizens allege that PMC has ignored legal and civic appeals and moved ahead without adequate coordination or transparency.
According to Qaneez Sukhrani, Convenor of the Association of Nagar Road Citizens Forum (ANRCF), residents had repeatedly requested a Comprehensive Master Plan as a fundamental right, especially given the scale of disruption expected to daily life. “All we had demanded was a Comprehensive Master Plan, as it is the Citizens’ Right to know when their daily lives are thrown into upheaval,” Sukhrani said.
The Traffic Police, meanwhile, have already introduced U-turns and diversions at several key junctions—Dargah, Somnath Nagar, AGNI, Shastri Nagar, and Parnakutti—leading to traffic jams and chaos instead of easing vehicular movement, residents reported.
Six months ago, the forum discovered that multiple infrastructure projects were being executed by different agencies, including PMC, along a 7-km stretch of Nagar Road and its peripheral areas. Upon investigation, it emerged that there was no inter-agency coordination. “None of the authority or agency knew about the other’s project,” said Sukhrani. She warned this could lead to chaotic overlaps and project duplications, citing similar issues in Katraj and Sinhagad due to poor micro-level planning.
On September 9, 2024, the ANRCF sent a legal notice to the PMC Commissioner, PUMTA Chairman, Police Commissioner, Chief Secretary, and the UDD Secretary of Maharashtra. Prior to this, the forum had also insisted on a joint site visit by PMC and Police officials, which was conducted on August 22, 2024 (photos attached). Subsequent requests to hold a multi-agency meeting to formulate an Integrated Master Plan were ignored.
“Our demands were not just ignored but completely sidelined—especially by PMC, which is responsible for urban planning,” said Sukhrani. The citizens’ proposed Integrated Master Plan includes:
- MSIDC’s two/three-tier flyover from Shirur to Phoenix Mall, initially planned up to the Wagholi old octroi naka.
- MahaMetro’s extension from Ramwadi to Vitthalwadi in Wagholi—with no clarity on how it will integrate with the MSIDC flyover.
- PMC Road Department’s flyover and underpass to reduce congestion at Kharadi junction.
- Cancellation of the Shastri Nagar Y-shaped flyover and grade separator (costing ₹93 crore) due to:
- Complete removal of BRTS corridors, which would add four lanes for traffic.
- Pending completion of Phase 1 and 2 of the Shivane–Kharadi bypass. Once completed, 55% of the traffic will move off Nagar Road.
- Delays by the City Engineer in acquiring 15 key land parcels on Nagar Road as per the 1987 Development Plan, which are essential to reduce bottlenecks.
- Lack of justification from the City Engineer for granting entry/exit access on Nagar Road to large buildings such as the Mastercard office and Godrej Developers, which could worsen congestion.
The forum continues to oppose the PMC’s unilateral approach and is demanding that all work be halted until an Integrated Master Plan is presented to the public and executed with inter-agency coordination.
