Pune’s metro project on a wrong track

The uncertainty over the fate of Pune Metro seems to continue even as the Pune Municipal Corporation’s (PMC) draft budget has earmarked Rs3 crore as “project development” for it.

Whether the project would be underground or elevated seemed to be unresolved although Deputy Chief Minister, Ajit Pawar, had declared his support for an underground metro in the city.

However, while speaking to the media on Friday, municipal commissioner, Mahesh Pathak, declared that the state government “is not working on any proposal for an underground metro for the city”.

Pathak’s announcement comes in the backdrop of the general body of the PMC approving an underground metro for the city in December last year.

In June 2010, the general body had approved an elevated 15-km metro corridor from Vanaz to Ramawadi.

Also, during the election campaign, chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, had batted for an elevated metro for the city.

When asked about the fate of the general body’s December resolution, Pathak said, “We have not send any resolution for underground metro to the state government. The state government has in principle given approval to the elevated metro corridor and work is going on to work out the finances for execution of the project.”

The Rs3 crore sanctioned in this year’s budget would be used to garner the state and central government’s sanction for the project, Pathak stated.

City president of the NCP, Vandana Chavan, while talking to DNA, expressed her surprise about this statement of the commissioner. “We will talk to him about this,” she said.