Restart review of projects in Pune, Supriya Sule tells Ajit Pawar after inspecting under-construction bridge

Supriya Sule criticised the Maharashtra government for proceeding with the Nagpur-Goa Shaktipeeth Expressway project by taking a loan at an alleged high interest rate.

Sule criticised the Mahayuti government for going ahead with the Nagpur-Goa Shaktipeeth Expressway project by taking a loan of Rs 86,000 crore at an alleged high interest rate.

Nationalist Congress Party (SP) MP Supriya Sule Wedneday asked her cousin and Pune Guardian Minister Ajit Pawar to resume his weekly meetings to review development projects in the city and ensure they stay on track.

She said, “I remember the current guardian minister, who held the position even during the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) rule, used to review the projects in the Pune district every Friday. I don’t know why it is not done now, but it is my request that he should restart the reviewing of projects every week and address the problems in implementations.”

On Wednesday, Sule inspected a bridge being built by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) over the Mutha River in Pune. This bridge runs parallel to the existing river bridge on the Mumbai-Bengaluru bypass, and it falls in her Baramati Lok Sabha constituency. The work on the project has been halted due to a change in the road design on both sides of the river.

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“The NHAI informed that the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) was not cooperating on the acquisition of land for the bypass road on either side of the river as per the requirement of the new plan for widening the road from the Navale bridge to Warje. This has led to a bottleneck,” said Sule after doing the site visit.

Sule also criticised the Mahayuti government for going ahead with the Nagpur-Goa Shaktipeeth Expressway project by taking a loan of Rs 86,000 crore at an alleged high interest rate. “The state finance ministry has expressed concern over taking a loan for the project as it will deteriorate the financial condition of the state. The state is unable to meet the financial demands of teachers, farmers and pay the contractors for work completed, then why draw a loan for a road project which is not an emergency,” she said.

The Maharashtra Cabinet in June approved the acquisition of land for the six-lane Shaktipeeth Expressway project, which was halted due to farmers’ protests in Kolhapur in 2024.

Sule also said that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has not responded to her despite her raising the issues of Hinjewadi. “The Rajiv Gandhi Infotech Park in Hinjewadi provides employment to six lakh people directly or indirectly. The state government is not serious about the global centre and resolving its issues,” she said, adding that this might adversely impact the industries’ response in the state.

Ajay Jadhav

Ajay Jadhav is an Assistant Editor with The Indian Express, Pune. He writes on Infrastructure, Politics, Civic issues, Sustainable Development and related stuff. He is a trekker and a sports enthusiast. Ajay has written research articles on the Conservancy staff that created a nationwide impact in framing policy to improve the condition of workers handling waste. Ajay has been consistently writing on politics and infrastructure. He brought to light the lack of basic infrastructure of school and hospital in the hometown of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde even as two private helipads were developed by the leader who mostly commutes from Mumbai to Satara in helicopter. Ajay has been reporting on sustainable development initiatives that protects the environment while ensuring infrastructure development. ... Read More

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