A Royale link to Pune’s inner ring road

The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has acquired possession of a 24-metre wide road, within the premises of the super luxury Castel Royale residential complex premises, which is located behind the Savitribai Phule Pune University. This road will be part of the PMC’s ambitious High Capacity Mass Transit Route (HCMTR), also known as the inner ring road.

Civic officers have confirmed that construction company Avinash Bhosale Infrastructure Ltd has handed over this road to the PMC recently. The civic body plans to connect this road to Ambedkar chowk on Aundh road and further on to Bhau Patil road in Bopodi.

The road will connect Savitribai Phule Pune University chowk after acquiring portions of land belonging to the Defence establishment in Range Hills and Vaikunthbhai Mehta Institute of Cooperative Management.

Meanwhile, the inner ring road on this stretch will take shape only when 100 slum tenements at Bopodi are relocated and multiple land acquisitions are completed.

Prashant Waghmare, PMC city engineer and Yuvraj Deshmukh, executive engineer have confirmed the development. Waghmare said, “PMC has already acquired land from the luxury Castel Royale residential complex project that was meant for a public yoga and meditation centre, playground, and a building for economically weaker section of the society. The recent road acquisition was a part of this.”

He said that this road is part of 1987 DP road which was planned as inner ring road at that time. The inner ring road was in isolation for last many years, but now PMC had given it priority.

On February 9, when chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had come to city for the foundation stone laying ceremony of the proposed multimodal transport hub at Swargate, he had instructed the PMC to start work on the inner ring road by the end of June.

JB Pawar, deputy engineer said, “PMC has taken steps to acquire land from the Defence which is needed for connecting the Castel Royale road to Ambedkar chowk.”

HCMTR – Inner Ring Road

The 37 km High Capacity Mass Transit Route (HCMTR) encircles a large part of Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad.

• The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) had undertaken a detailed study of the transportation requirements of Pune Metropolitan Area in 1978-1982 and this project was based on that study, they have identified a High Capacity Mass Transit Route corridor (HCMTR).

•At least 60 arterial and main city roads will be connected with the HCMTR ring road.

• The High Capacity Mass Transit Route will pass through Khadki, Aundh, Shivajinagar,Erandwane, Kothrud, Karve Nagar, Dattawadi, Parvati, Bibvewadi, Wanawadi, Salisbury Park, Hadapsar, Mundhwa, Kalyani Nagar, Yerawada and Kalas areas.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has instructed Pune Mayor Mukta Tilak and Municipal Commissioner Saurabh Rao to give priority to the HCMTR project and kickstart this project in June. The city improvement committee of the PMC has approved 4 FSI along the HCMTR project and now standing committee and general body will take call on this proposal.

HCMTR in numbers

- Entire HCMTR route will be elevated route

- Length - 37 km

- Cost of the project- Rs 5,096 crore

- Land acquisition cost- Rs1,550 crore

- Total area of land required- 77 hectares

- PMC able to get -35 hectare land till date