Maharashtra govt approves Rs 26,831-crore budget for outer ring road project for Pune

The first package includes development of 29.85 km of the road from Solu on Alandi-Markal Road to Soratwadi on Pune-Solapur Road at a cost of Rs 3,523.93 crore, which includes two interchanges, two railway overbridges, one viaduct, two river bridges and 37 underpasses.

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The second package for construction of 36.73 km of the road from Soratawadi on Pune-Solapur Road to Varve on Satara Road at a cost of Rs 4,495.45 crore includes three interchanges, six tunnels, 10 viaducts, one railway overbridge and two underpasses. The third package of 38.340 km from Urse on Pune-Mumbai Expressway to Solu on Alandi-Markal Road at a cost of 6,635.86 crore includes four interchanges, one railway overbridge, two river bridges and 28 underpasses.

The fourth package for construction of 68.8 km road from Urse on Pune-Mumbai Expressway to Varve on Satara Road at a cost of Rs 12,176 crore includes six interchanges, eight tunnels, two viaducts, three river bridges and 56 underpasses.

The basic infrastructure committee of the state government on August 25 had given its approval to the process for the implementation of the project.

According to the state government, the mega project is needed to decongest roads by diverting traffic that was passing through Pune en route to other areas in the state. The existing roads in the city cannot be widened due to the dense urban area and the air as well as sound pollution in the city has crossed its higher limits.

The interstate and ‘within state’ traffic flow is very high in the city as three major national highways, Mumbai-Bangalore, Mumbai-Hyderabad-Vijayawada and Pune-Nashik, and new national highways, Pune-Pandharpur, Pune-Aurangabad and Pune-Mangaon, pass through the city.

The outer ring road was approved by the state government in 2015.