Land acquisition issue ‘narrows’ Katraj-Kondhwa road from 84 to 50 m ; PMC to reissue bids shortly
Jigar Hindocha
Pune: Pune Municipal Corporation has decided to reduce the width of Katraj-Kondhwa road from 84 metres to 50 metres after facing issues in land acquisition.
With PMC missing multiple deadlines to complete the road and with work also going at snail’s pace, PMC road department has decided to find alternative ways to complete ths project.
PMC sanctioned Rs 215 crores for the mere 3.5 kilometre stretch for widening with service roads and an underpass but land acquisition hurdles stalled the work.
Earlier on July 25, a review meeting was conducted by municipal commissioner and administrator Vikram Kumar to decide on the fate of the project. The meeting was attended by former MLA Yogesh Tilekar and PMC officials.
As per 84 metre width road 288,124 square metre was to be acquired from 195 land owners for the project, the PMC has managed to acquire land from only 33 out of the 195 owners in the past two-and-a-half years, with the remaining 162 owners asking for cash compensation from the corporation. As a result, the PMC contractor has completed only 25% of the work till date.
Tilekar said, “The road plan has been stuck for many years because of land acquisition issues. Hence, we have agreed to develop the existing road with available land as it will decongest the traffic.”
PMC will now be reissuing bids for the widening of Katraj Kondhwa road VG Kulkarni, head, PMC road department, said, “ The initial deadline was September 2021 then it was extended to December 2021, however with land acquisition facing many hurdles it was necessary to find out a different solution.”
In 2013, Katraj-Kondhwa road-widening plan was first proposed. Then in 2017, PMC prepared the proposal and made financial allocation in the budget. In 2018 PMC cancelled three bids due to allegations of inflated cost, before giving the contract at Rs 215 crore. Foundation stone for the road was laid by former CM Devendra Fadnavis on November 2, 2018.
