Two months on, Pune’s Chandani chowk flyover work yet to hit the pedal

Two months after the much-hyped foundation stone-laying ceremony of the multi-level flyover at Chandani chowk, there has been no sign of the work starting anytime soon. The ceremony, held on August 27 this year, saw Union road transport minister Nitin Gadkari and Nationalist Congress Party’s president Sharad Pawar present at the occasion.

Local Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Kothrud, Medha Kulkarni, blamed the municipal commissioner and civic administration for the delay and said that despite her regular follow ups, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) is not speeding up the land acquisition process. 

Kulkarni also wrote a letter to the mayor Mukta Tilak and municipal commissioner Kunal Kumar calling for an urgent meeting as the work has not yet started despite the ground breaking ceremony.

The MLA told Hindustan Times that though this flyover is important for the city and the cost will be borne by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), the administration has been lax in speeding up the work. She also blamed the civic administration for not completing the land acquisition on priority basis. 

PMC estate department head Satish Kulkarni said that the PMC would need to acquire around 14 hectares for the flyover project. The estimated cost of this land is around ₹300 crore. Almost 50% of the land for this project is part of the Bio Diversity Park (BDP). 

The PMC has asked suggestions from the state government regarding compensation for the land falling under the BDP. The government has not decided on the compensation policy for BDP land yet, and this decision would be taken at the state level.

Kulkarni said that the PMC is in a process to acquire the land, but most of the land is for service road. There is no problem in carrying out the work. The project co-ordinator from PMC, Srinivas Bonala also accepted that the work has not started on the ground.