Aundh-Ravet BRTS work takes off

There’s good news for commuters who are forced to suffer bumper-to-bumper traffic while covering the Pune city-E-way stretch that takes nothing short of an hour.With Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) finally commencing work on the 14.5-kmlong Aundh-Ravet Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) route earlier this month, the commuting time will come down to only 20 minutes.The proposal for the project was passed a year ago, but there was a delay in carrying out the project as defence land had to be acquired. Meanwhile, the opposition parties are up in arms against the Rs 71 crore that PCMC’s standing committee passed last week for relaying high-tension cables on the Aundh-Ravet stretch. “There is a shift in the allocated space for laying the cable, which will reduce the cost. So, the Rs 71 crore proposal will not be tabled on November 20,” said Sharma.
Aundh-Ravet BRTS is a pilot project under the Centre’s Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) under which the central government will grant 50 per cent of the total fund. The state government will fund 20 per cent of the cost while 30 per cent will be borne by the PCMC. PCMC has appointed SN Bhobe and Associates as project management consultants. The road is proposed to have a footpath, cycle-tracks and eight-foot subway.
“The project is to be completed in 18 months. Some structures on defence land have to be demolished and this is taking time,” Sharma said.The massive traffic jams caused by the increasing number of commuters between Pune and Hinjewadi and towards the expressway on the Aundh-Ravet stretch has been making life difficult for the commuters for some time now. The faster evacuation of commuters through BRTS is expected to ease the situation considerably.