New Chandani Chowk flyover on Mumbai-Bangalore Highway in Pune to open on August 12

As per Deshmukh, the girder installation work is presently underway for which traffic on the main highway has been diverted between 12.30 am to 3.30 am for ten days. Of the total 32 girders, 25 have been installed. “On the main route, nine girders are to be installed of which five have been installed and the rest will be installed soon,” said Deshmukh. This, Deshmukh said, will be followed by concretisation and road development.

The project, which was rescheduled to be completed by April this year, has seen a significant delay. The project was originally planned to be completed by August 2021 but it encountered various obstacles such as land acquisition, traffic management and the impact of the pandemic. The old bridge at the site was demolished in October 2022 when it was seen that it was contributing to the traffic congestion.

“The bridge will be opened for public use on August 12 in the presence of the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Ministers and the Guardian Minister. It is a significant project for Pune and the neighbouring districts,” said Deshmukh.

“The work was challenging because it is on a national highway and had to be done without blocking the traffic. We demolished the old bridge overnight and removed the debris in a few hours. There were issues pertaining to land acquisition and some land owners had approached the Supreme Court but with cooperation from the Pune Municipal Corporation, Pune police, National Highways Authority of India and the local administration, the project has come close to completion,” said Deshmukh.

He added that the road users are already getting a feel of the benefits of the project after the service roads were opened. “Crossing the Chandani Chowk bottleneck was a nightmare and it used to take 40 minutes to an hour,” said Deshmukh.