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Journalism of Courage
Facing criticism for delaying inauguration of infrastructure projects, Chief Minister Devendra Fadanavis on Monday inaugurated Pune city’s longest flyover on Sinhagad Road and the first cable-stayed pedestrian bridge across Mutha river.
Earlier last week, the MNS, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP(SP) staged protest over the delay in opening the flyover for the public despite completion of work, alleging that the BJP was delaying the inauguration due to unavailability of the Chief Minister.
Constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 118 crore, the flyover is approximately 2.5km and includes a chain of bridges—a 520 metre long one way flyover bridge from Vithalwadi to Veer Baji Pasalkar Udyan jumping the main junction of the Rajaram bridge inaugurated last year; a 2.1km long one-way flyover bridge from Vithalwadi to Funtime Cinema jumping six junctions that was inaugurated a few months ago and another arm of a 1.5 km long flyover bridge from Goel Ganga chowk to Hingane at Inamdar Chowk jumping four junctions.
Due to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s unavailability, two arms of the project were inaugurated by Deputy Chief minister Ajit Pawar. The last leg of the flyover was completed recently and BJP MLA Madhuri Misal insisted that it should be inaugurated by the Chief Minister only. Thus, the decision to inaugurate it was taken on Sunday as Fadnavis was to visit the farmhouse of actor Nana Patekar near Sinhagad Fort for Ganesh darshan on Sinhagad Road.
Fadanavis on his way to the city via Sinhagad road, when he stopped by to inaugurate Pune’s longest flyover. Fadnavis said the flyover on Sinhagad road will ease traffic, reduce air pollution and provide relief from traffic jams.
The Chief Minister then rushed to inaugurate the first cable-stayed bridge across Mutha river and also the country’s first cable-stayed bridge having a pillar aligned at 70 degrees.
The pedestrian bridge connects the Sambhaji Park metro station to central part of city at Shaniwar Peth and enables connectivity for those commuting to and fro from Narayan Peth and Sadashiv Peth. It also enables pedestrians to cross the river between the central part of the city and Shivajinagar.
The tanpura-shaped pedestrian bridge is 179.791 metre long and eight metres wide. It has a 72.269 metre tall concrete pillar of 70 degrees.
“The footbridge on Mutha river is beautiful and is in the central part of the city. It will enable seamless connectivity for Metro travellers. It is an iconic structure that will benefit pedestrians,” he said.
The Sinhagad Road is the only connecting road for residents in the jurisdiction of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) — from Khadakwasla, Dhayari, Nanded, Vadgaon Budruk, Hingne, Narhe, Ambegaon Budruk and Anandnagar — to the central part of the city.
This road also leads to tourist destinations, including Panshet, Varasgaon, Khadakwasla dams, and Sinhagad Fort. The road is also the only connecting point to national institutes, such as the Central Water Power Research Station, National Water Academy, Defence Institute of Armament Technology, and MILIT.
Moreover, the Sinhagad Road provides access to the Bengaluru-Mumbai bypass and is the preferred route for vehicles taking to the highway, due to the newly built Katraj tunnel. Commuters travelling from Bengaluru to Pune prefer to take the Sinhagad Road after exiting the tunnel, and vehicles travelling in the opposite direction also take the Sinhagad Road.
“Over 1.5 lakh vehicles use the only road that connects the area to the city. It is the only road because there is the Mutha River on one side, and hills on the other side. It is due to this reason flyover was constructed to ease the traffic flow,” said a PMC officer.
