Journalism of Courage
Removing hurdles in implementation of the ambitious ring road project,Guardian minister Ajit Pawar on Saturday put it back on track by resolving all technical issues at the administrative level.
I called a meeting of representatives of all agencies concerned with the implementation of the project. The project has been struggling to take off due to technical problems being raised by the various departments, he said.
The representatives of the state Public Works Department (PWD),the district collectorate,Pune Municipal Corporation,Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation,Traffic police and National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) attended the meeting.
There has been too much delay in implementing the project and heavy vehicle traffic passing through city limits was increasing every day. Thus,the projects should be implemented as soon as possible, he said adding a consensus on the plan was achieved by resolving the issues raised by each concerned agency. The proposal of the 170-km long ring road will now be tabled for approval of the chief minister Ashok Chavan and Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal. There would be no difference of opinion between the various agencies when they meet for a final meeting with the chief minister,Pawar said.
He said the project is estimated to cost between nine to ten thousand crores with most of it earmarked for acquiring land.
Various options of raising the amount are being explored with the NHAI also suggesting to make use of the funds that are available from the union government for the project,said Pawar.
Mayor Mohansigh Rajpal said that part of the ring road connecting Katraj to Saswad passes through the PMC’s jurisdiction and will be developed by the civic body.
The proposal to contribute money for the execution of project will also be considered,he said.Earlier,the district collector was directed to carry out land acquisition for the road through Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) in Chakan.
