Shuttle services proposed to decongest Sinhagad fort area

“We plan to address traffic congestions and cleanliness issues at the fort area. For traffic decongestion, MTDC is readying a plan for shuttle services, and it would be followed for Lonavala too. We are closely working with the forest authorities on the same,’’ said district collector Saurabh Rao.

Rao said that they had a few meetings on the issue and while they are yet to ascertain the expenses which will be incurred for the plan, they do plan for the overall development and work along with the forest department. The shops that sell zhunka bhakri and pitla too might be shifted as there are several complaints of these shops encroaching forest land.

Officials would probably shift these shops out from haphazard shanties to proper areas which would convenience tourists as well as the shop owners. The owners being locals, a plan would be readied for them. A facility survey for the entire project has been completed and a joint meeting of the administration along with forest and tourism officials would be readied.

The proposed ropeway project would also get underway and private operators would be given its charge. Even as there was some opposition from local MLAs, the district administration has assured that a meeting would be held to clear the project.

The 1,100-metre long ropeway would take about five minutes to ferry visitors from the foothill to the fort’s entrance. The ropeway would start from Aatkarwadi at the foot of Sinhagad and visitors would be dropped near Pune Darwaza.

Earlier too, efforts were taken to beautify the historical structure, but things had remained stagnant due to lack of coordination between various departments. This time, the development plan readied would include beautification of some of the fort’s prime spots, construction of pathways and repairs to the road to the hill top. Besides these, the temples, natural ponds and historical structures on the fort would be restored.

The development of Nira Narsingpur has been given a go-ahead by the High Power Committee on Monday on similar lines. The Rs 260 crore project is all set to make this village in Indapur taluka a tourist destination. With tourists coming in from Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka, the temple located at the confluence of Bhima and Nira rivers, would see a detailed plan which would be cleared by the apex committee under the chief minister.

The temple, infrastructure development, as well as rooms for tourist are all included in the Rs 260 crore plan which would be implemented phase-wise over a period of three years. The plans are on the line of Bhimashankar and Dehu Alandi.