BJP Misled About ATMS Signals in Newly Merged Villages in Pune City : Alleges NCP

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) alleges that the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) has lied about bringing ATMS signals in the newly included villages in Pune.

As per information, the NCP, which initially opposed the installation of ATMS (Adaptive Traffic Management System) signal systems at various 125 intersections in Pune, supported the BJP in the main assembly after it promised to install this system at 100 more intersections in the included Villages in Pune. However, no process has been done regarding installation of ATMS system in the affected villages for over two years.

In 2018, Pune Smart City floated tenders for installing an ATMS system to control traffic in the city. In the first phase, out of 261 intersections in the city, 125 intersections were planned to be connected to each other and controlled by modern systems, setting the signal timings according to the traffic.

Meanwhile, the government in the state changed in 2019. In the meeting of the board of directors of Smart City, the directors of all the parties approved the tender ‘secretly’. The work worth around Rs 102 crore 62 lakh was awarded to a New Delhi based company. For the next five years to operate and maintain this system, a total of Rs 57 crore 94 lakh will be incurred which is Rs 11 crore 58 lakh per year.

As the Smart City does not have money, the Standing Committee accepted the proposal of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) to bear this expense. After the approval was given by the Standing Committee, the opposition parties Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena protested against it and proposed a reconsideration. They also warned to complain to the state government and ED.

However, after the matter came up for approval in the main assembly on November 23, 2021, the NCP, which had initially opposed it, voted in favour of the proposal, giving a helping hand to the ruling BJP.

Shreyas Vange