Defence minister resolves issues ailing two projects in Pune

Nirmala Sitharaman, defence minister, on Wednesday resolved the deadlock due which the Chandani chowk flyover project and the Lohegaon airport extension were halted. The defence minster gave an in principle approval to shift the cargo facility at the Lohegaon Airport and also agreed to give a portion of the National Defence Academy (NDA) land to the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) for the construction of the Chandani chowk flyover.

Union minister of transport Nitin Gadkari and guardian minister Girish Bapat had met the defence minister on Wednesday in New Delhi to sort out the various pending projects of the city.

Bapat said that the PMC and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will be jointly constructing the multilevel flyover at Chandani chowk. To construct this flyover, the PMC needed 48 gunthas (unit of measuring land) from the NDA at Chandani chowk. The defence minister gave the in principle approval to handover this land to the PMC. The state government has promised to give an alternate plot in Ahmednagar to the NDA.

Also, the work of the extension of the Lohegaon airport had stopped since the defence authorities were not ready to shift the cargo facility. The defence minister gave an in principle approval to shift the cargo facility, said Bapat.

Bapat also added that since the defence minister had given the approval for these two projects, both the works would start soon.