PUNE, Sept 30: The Pune Municipal Transport (PMT) bus stand at Jedhe Chowk on Pune-Satara road will be shifted to an alternative site along the Mutha right bank canal on Thursday marking an end to the hiccups that had dogged the proposal for last two years.Suresh Kalmadi, MP, will inaugurate the new location of Swargate PMT terminus' tomorrow, Shyam Mankar, Chairman, PMT told media persons today. The PMT administration had repeatedly maintained that the shifting was a priority considering the traffic congestion at the chowk.The plan was mooted by the then mayor Kamal Vyavahare in June '96. As per the project, the terminus was to be shifted to a 3381.67 sq mt plot of land behind the present terminus, running parallel to the Mutha right bank canal.The plot had been handed over to the PMT by Pune Municipal Corporation. However, the construction of the new stand was stalled due to want of adequate access to the site. The access area is being held by the Mutha Canal irrigation section office and its staff quarters located in temporary sheds at the site.With the allotment of one acre of land by the PMC, work for the alternative site along the Mutha right bank canal gathered momentum and nearly Rs 20 lakh was spent. The delay also halted the widening of the Pune-Satara road between Jedhe statue and Laxminarayan theatre.Meanwhile, the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation has agreed to part with 3050 sq mt of land to the PMC for widening of the Pune-Satara and Shankarsheth roads.
