PCMC's BRTS gets a Rs.442 Crore boost

The Union government approved sanction of Rs 442.60 crore for two Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) corridors proposed by the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) scheme. Speaking to reporters, Jagdish Shetty, group leader of the NCP corporators, said the funds sanctioned to the PCMC under the JNNURM has crossed Rs 2,000 crore mark. The decision to approve the two projects was taken at the Central Sanction and Monitoring Committee (CSMC) held at New Delhi on Friday. The PCMC will be creating an eight-km-long BRTS corridor from Nashik Phata to Wakad and another 11.2 km corridor from Kalewadi to Dehu-Alandi. The committee has approved Rs 214.84 crore for the corridor from Nashik Phata to Wakad and Rs 227.76 crore for the corridor from Kalewadi to Dehu-Alandi. The civic body has taken a decision to form a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to develop the projects. Special features of these projects include two flyovers, namely a 1.9-km flyover near Empire Estate and a 1.3-km flyover on Nashik Phata-Wakad road. The municipal corporation is yet to acquire some land for the two corridors. Speaking about it, Sudhakar Deshmukh, assistant commissioner, PCMC, said, “The PCMC will be giving territory development rights (TDR) to people whose land will be acquired. This will speed up the process and there will be no problems in land acquisition.” Shetty said, “The total amount sanctioned by the Centre for the PCMC under the JNNURM scheme for various projects has touched Rs 2204.18 crore.