Legal notice issued to MahaMetro over encroaching road width on Nagar Road

By: Pune Pulse

December 13, 2023

Pune: The Association of Nagar Road Citizens Forum have issued a legal notice to MahaMetro & other relevant key authorities claiming that the width and alignment set for Yerawada & Ramwadi stations, on both sides of Nagar Road, have been breached.

Some of the key points focused on are:

· Metro Reach III must not commence operations until the Yerawada and Ramwadi Metro Stations on both sides of Nagar Road are relocated away from DP Road onto any private / or government land behind. Existing & increasing vehicular movement needs to have a clear passageway with unnecessary bottlenecks created by Metro stations encroaching onto DP of Nagar Road. This condition would include space for autos to park/halt, feeder buses to park/halt and private vehicles to be parked by their owners so that they may board the Metro.

· The road width end-to-end as per Development Plan 1987 (2017) is 60 m where Maha Metro has constructed the staircase of the Yerawada station and 45 m at Ramwadi station. Maha Metro has blatantly ignored the fact that they are presently encroaching on the road, by 7 m, meant for smooth movement of vehicular traffic.

· Maha Metro has annexed the full footpath width for its staircase & lift at the kerb at Bund Garden near ICICI Bank. But after pressure from the public who had to risk their lives at the kerb, it has marked out a zigzag footpath where citizens have no alternative but to pass through an obstacle.

· Maha Metro has not considered that auto-rickshaws and feeder buses will halt and crowd this area around both stations to embark and disembark passengers.

· Maha Metro has not provided parking bays to consider that commuters may want to drive in their private vehicles up to embarking the Metro from Yerawada / Ramwadi. This should logically be within 100 m of the Yerawada & Ramwadi Metro Stations to avoid further decrease and crowd the road width from being clear of hindrances.

· Maha Metro must look for solutions to shift the staircases at both stations on both sides to alternate land away from and behind the main Nagar Road

· The Association of Nagar Road Citizens Forum has been regularly alerting MahaMetro from time to time on this aspect of finding alternative locations by not intruding onto DP road width, by not taking over footpaths, and for not providing parking bays. Maha Metro should approach owners of govt land and private land at these locations. But these requests have fallen on deaf ears.

· Maha Metro has failed in management & technical planning in a holistic manner by keeping all road users in mind. Instead, MahaMetro’s consultant focused only on the Metro

· The chaos at Ruby Hall’s Metro station and Pune Railway Station’s Metro station by autos and vehicles halting and parking should not be taken lightly as it will be repeated at Yerawada and Ramwadi stations if staircase and lifts are not shifted away from the main Nagar Road.

· The current scenario of congestion due to halted autos outside Pune Railway Station and Ruby Hall Stations are enough indication of what will happen at Ramwadi, Yerawada & Bund Garden.

Apart from the above, some more points highlighted are:

· MahaMetro allegedly annexed the entire width of the footpath for its staircase and lift at Bund Garden, resulting in a zigzag path that is dangerous for pedestrians. The residents also allege that the Metro has not supplied enough parking spaces, which are necessary for commuters to board the Metro in private vehicles.

· Maha Metro has failed in both technical planning and holistic management, concentrating solely on the upgraded Metro without taking into account the effects on other users of the road. They point to the mayhem at the metro stations at Ruby Hall and Pune Railway Station as signs of possible problems at Yerawada and Ramwadi in the event that corrective action is not taken.

· Maha Metro and other authorities are accused in the legal notice of being opaque, not communicating with one another, and not being accountable for the public’s convenience.

The Divisional Commissioner has been asked by the Association of Nagar Road Citizens Forum to call a meeting by December 25, 2023.

This meeting’s objective is to examine and discuss plans pertaining to the present situation and anticipated future developments regarding traffic congestion at the Yerawada and Ramwadi stations. The citizens’ forum expects the heads of all pertinent authorities who make decisions to attend this meeting and respond to their concerns.

The citizens’ forum states that if the request for a joint meeting is turned down and Metro services are extended to the Yerawada and Ramwadi stations, they will take their grievances to the next legal forum.

Shreyas Vange