Swargate-Katraj route accident questions proper implementation

The failure of the Pune Municipal Corporation and the PMPML to implement the Bus Rapid Transit Service (BRTS) project once again came to light when a hospital employee met with an accident while travelling on a Swargate-Katraj route bus few days ago. This has further affected the completion of other proposed BRTS routes in the city.

However,PMPML drivers are blaming private vehicles that intrude into the narrow dedicated corridors making driving through these lanes difficult. Construction works taken up by the PMC are also a major disturbance for buses plying on the stretch. Josaram Grasia,27,who was standing on a foot-board of a PMPML bus died after his head hit a traffic signal pole. The BRTS project is an initiative of the PMC and PMPML. Pune was the first Indian city to start the pilot project in December 2006. The service was implemented on the Hadapsar-Swargate-Katraj stretch extending up to 16.5 km. Five and half years have passed since its implementation but the PMC and PMPML have failed to put things in place. A visit to the route on Friday showed that many private vehicles,especially two wheelers were parked on the stretch and there was hardly any traffic policeman to stop the activity. Private vehicles were also plying on the stretch. At many spots,the carriageway could not be distinguished as the central median installed to separate them had vanished. “Sometimes we can’t even blame the intruders. Drivers who are new to the city don’t know that they are not supposed to enter the zone,as there are no sign boards to demarcate the lanes,” said a PMPML bus driver.

The PMC has also put a spoke in its own wheel by deciding to start work on a subway and flyover on Satara Road thereby disturbing the service further. Work on a subway near Laxminarayan Theatre and a flyover stretching from Ahilyadevi Square to Balaji Nagar Chowk has started. A PMC official said that the BRTS lane has been closed to facilitate work. “The flyover and the subway will take one-and-half years to complete. Till then,there would be no BRTS dedicated lane in this stretch,” an official said.