Title - Private firm to prepare mono rail report: Civic official

PUNE: Following directives from the Union government, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has started the process of preparing a detailed project report (DPR) for the mono rail project in the city.Union urban development minister Kamal Nath had said in New Delhi on Thursday that the government will give immediate approval to the Pune metro project. He also said that the PMC should prepare a DPR for mono rail. Accordingly, PMC officials held a meeting with state officials on Friday and discussed the details of the project.A senior civic official said the PMC has assigned the DPR work to a private firm. "The mono rail is being planned on the High Capacity Mass Transit Route (HCMTR). PMC and Union government officials will hold another round of meeting on Monday. Once the DPR is ready the PMC will approach the Centre for further process," said the PMC official.In November 2011, the civic standing committee decided to reserve the proposed HCMTR only for public transport. Accordingly, no private vehicles would be allowed on this route. Any mass transit system, such as monorail or metro, can be made operational on this route.Around 7.60 lakh sq metres land is required for the HCMTR. Of this, nearly 52,000 sq metres has already been acquired. Land owned by private parties, the forest department, the state government and the Pune and Khadki cantonment boards is to be acquired.

The HCMTR is a land route earmarked under the development plan of 1987 for swift movement of public transport vehicles and a rail-based corridor. The PMC is planning to develop nearly 34-km-long route for this project.