Pune : PCMC announces plans to develop 8-foot footpaths under Urban Street on five roads
PUNE: The Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation has announced plans to develop 8-foot footpaths under Urban Street on five roads in the city, including the old Pune-Mumbai Highway.
The project is set to cost Rs. 200 crore. However, there has been criticism that the civic body is spending money under the guise of Urban Street.
Due to the growing population of Pimpri-Chinchwad, the number of vehicles on the road is also increasing. Unfortunately, this has led to a reduction in road width. To address this issue, footpaths will be developed and beautified under Urban Street on five roads, namely the Pune-Mumbai Highway, Telco Road to Balajinagar, Pawana Bridge to Dange Chowk, Dange Chowk to Bhumkar Chowk, and Shivar Chowk to Govind Garden Hotel.
The Pune-Mumbai highway has become narrower due to the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system, and the number of pedestrians is negligible compared to vehicles. Once the roads are developed under Urban Street, the width of the road will be reduced, which may create traffic problems.
As per the information received, the PCMC has already spent crores of rupees on footpaths and cycle routes, including Rs 109 crore from Dapodi to Pimpri (both sides), Rs 60 crore from Pimpri to Nigdi (one side), Rs 60 crore from Nigdi to Pimpri (one side), Rs 160 crore from Telco Road-Landewadi to Thermax Chowk, Rs 19 crore from Birla Hospital to Dange Chowk, Rs 19 crore from Dange Chowk to Kasturi Chowk, Rs 55 crore from Shivar Chowk to Govind Garden Chowk, and Rs 90 crore from Sangvi to Kivale, and now Rs 200 crore will be spent on the development of footpaths under Urban Street on five roads.
However, we tried contacting the relevant PCMC official but couldn’t reach till the time of filing of report.
