PMC to resume Katraj-Kondhwa Road widening project post monsoon
Pune Municipal Corporation will resume work on the Katraj-Kondhwa Road widening project, after the state government agreed to provide funds of INR 200 crore ($27.3m) for land acquisition. The project was delayed last year due to lack of funds. The road, which is currently 15 to 20 metres wide, will be widened to 84 metres. The project is estimated to cost INR 295 crore and will be completed within six months from the time it resumes.
As the state government has agreed to provide funds of ₹200 crore for the Katraj-Kondhwa Road widening project – work on which had ground to a halt owing to lack of funds for land acquisition – the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has now decided to resume work after the monsoon.
Municipal commissioner Vikram Kumar said, “The state government has sanctioned ₹200 crore for widening of the Katraj-Kondhwa Road as per our demand. Work will now start from October.”
V G Kulkarni, chief engineer of the PMC road department, said, “We will complete the work within six months from the time it resumes. Of the total 3.5 km’ stretch, we have completed widening of 1 km.”
Sudhir Chavan, PMC executive engineer, road department who is handling the project, said, “The PMC will add ₹80 crore to the state government funds. All these funds will be used to give cash compensation to property holders affected by the widening of the road. We have completed the road widening work in patches. The project was delayed as it affected 138 property holders who demanded cash compensation. The work will take around six months for completion.”
The Katraj-Kondhwa Road is an arterial road linking Satara Road to Solapur Road. While the road sees heavy outbound traffic from the westerly bypass to Solapur Road, it is only 15 to 20 metres wide and faces severe traffic congestion along the 3.5 km stretch from Kondhwa through Khadi Machine Chowk to Katraj Junction.
In December 2018, a PMC-appointed contractor had started widening the road from the existing 15 to 20 metres to 84 metres. The project cost was estimated to be ₹215 crore with a December 2021 deadline. However, the work ground to a halt last year as PMC did not have funds to acquire land for the project. Thereafter, the PMC decided to increase the width of the road to only 50 metres, down from the 84 metres proposed earlier as it was burdening the PMC coffers. Now that the state government has agreed to provide funds, the PMC has decided to resume the project after monsoon.