Title - Light rail being planned from Shivajinagar to Hinjewadi

PMC has started its work in association with PCMC and MIDC. The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has started its work to set up a light rail transport (LRT) in the city in association with the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) and Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC).At a meeting, the civic administration was directed to work on the LRT project. “We are exploring the possibility of LRT that will run in addition to the Metro rail and the BRTS. The route has been identified from Shivajinagar to Hinjewadi,” said Municipal Commissioner Mahesh Pathak.Since the PMC and PCMC would be spending money on Metro rail, the MIDC was being urged to take up the responsibility of raising finances for this project, Pathak said. “The public transport would mainly connect Hinjewadi to the city. The beneficiaries would be those employed in the MIDC area of Hinjewadi so it makes more sense that MIDC plays a major role in its implementation,” Pathak said.The Municipal Commissioner said the administration has been asked to study whether LRT will have a traffic load with availability of BRTS and Metro rail and the possible travel fare that would make it financially feasible.The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), which has proposed to finance it, had undertaken the survey over its feasibility and found that movement of personnel to Hinjewadi is mostly from Hadapsar, Wakad and Kothrud.

The Metro rail will be from Shivajinagar to Nigdi via old Pune-Mumbai Highway and Lohegaon to Warje, Pathak said, adding that the LRT would provide connectivity to Metro rail at Shivajinagar.

Meanwhile, the High-Power Committee for Pune Metro rail that met in Mumbai decided to appoint a consultant for following up the Metro proposal with the Union government for final approval. “The interim consultant would be appointed by the PMC to get the proposal approved from the Union government,” said Pathak.

The committee also decided to work on an agreement to be signed by the Union government, state government and the PMC for implementation of the Metro rail, apart from a discussion on the NOC to be procured from various departments for it.

“The JICA has been involved in financing Metro rail projects in other cities so the same possibility for Pune Metro will also be explored,” he added.