Now, local MLA demands Balajinagar metro station on Swargate to Katraj route
On Wednesday during the ongoing winter session of the state legislative assembly in Nagpur, cabinet minister Uday Samant responded to Tapkir’s demand
While the Swargate to Katraj extended route on the Pune Metro line 1 has already been approved by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and the state government and is now awaiting the Centre’s nod which may be given very soon, Khadakwasla MLA Bhimrao Tapkir’s demand for adding another metro station (Balajinagar) on the route is likely to further delay the project which has already been delayed by three years.
On Wednesday during the ongoing winter session of the state legislative assembly in Nagpur, cabinet minister Uday Samant responded to Tapkir’s demand for adding another metro station on the Swargate to Katraj extended route. “The government plans to send the proposal to the Centre after the state cabinet gives its nod,” Samant responded to Tapkir.
When contacted, Tapkir said, “We have demanded the addition of Balajinagar metro station on the Swargate to Katraj extended route. The Maha Metro has already prepared the detailed project report (DPR) of the Swargate to Katraj extended metro route. The proposal has been sent to the central government for final approval. After approval of the final project, we will make changes and send again to the Centre for approval.”
“The aim of the Pune Metro is to benefit the maximum number of people. Most of the middle-class people are staying at Balajinagar and Dhankawadi. Hence, we demanded a metro station at Balajinagar,” Tapkir said.
Shravan Hardikar, managing director of the Maha Metro, said, “The Swargate to Katraj proposal is in the final process of approval, and it is under the consideration of the Public Investment Board (PIB) of the Centre. We are expecting the PIB’s approval within a fortnight. We are pursuing the proposal.”
However, any changes at this stage would mean that the revised proposal would need to be reapproved by the PMC, state and finally the Centre.
One of the senior officials of the Maha Metro said, “At this stage, we cannot add one more station on the Swargate to Katraj extended route of the Pune Metro line 1. We will have to revise the plan and carry out all the procedures once again, and it will take a lot of time. Hence, it is a practical option to approach the central government once again on the basis of revised cost and variation after the central government’s final approval of the Swargate to Katraj extended route.”
During the assembly session on Wednesday, cabinet minister Samant also responded to a question from Tapkir regarding expanding the stations in the Pune Metro phase 1 and 2. Samant said that additionally, a DPR for the Khadakwasla to Kharadi metro line (25.65 km) has been submitted to the state government. After the state cabinet’s nod, this, too, will be sent to the Centre for approval, Samant said. There is a request for the last station on this route to be extended up to Khadakwasla dam, and the same has been jointly inspected. The proposal, along with the feasibility report, has been submitted to the state government, which will take a decision on the same.
