Title - Rough road ahead for flyovers near College of Engineering, Pune - The Times of India

PUNE: Two civic groups have approached the Bombay high court (HC) to stop the process of sanctioning three flyovers at the College of Engineering, Pune, (CoEP) junction and to direct the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) to stop work related to the road infrastructure.

In 2010, city-based NGOs, Nagrik Chetna Manch (NCM) and Parisar, had filed a PIL objecting to the "arbitrary manner" in which the PMC is undertaking construction of flyovers without adhering to norms, guidelines and without any detailed study or research to establish the real need or necessity for flyovers in the respective areas proposed for construction. Both NGOs have now requested the high court to amend the PIL and the prayer clause.

" ...PIL bearing No. 73/2010 is pending and it is listed on board many times. In the interim period, the petitioners have observed that new projects for flyover constructions are being approved in and around Pune city and while sanctioning the said new projects PMC has been repeatedly violating basic principles, guidelines and industry practices for flyover constructions," states the civil application for leave to amend the main PIL.

"Three flyovers now taken up for construction at a cost of approximately Rs 70 crores at the traffic junction near the CoEP will not decongest traffic because flyovers are not a complete solution as they do not solve the problem of traffic jams, especially in congested areas and at junctions like CoEP, where three roads intersect and result, at best of times, in traffic levels going up. Further, this concrete monster will disfigure the entire heritage precinct of the CoEP. Economically also, flyovers are not a permanent solution not being cost-effective and hence the petitioners are desirous of amending their present PIL bearing No. 73/2010 and also wish to amend the prayer clause mentioned in the same," the application states.

The original PIL states that the civic body along with private companies had constructed flyovers in Pune city at Paud Phata, Magarpatta city, Hadapsar by flouting the guidelines mandated by the Indian Roads Congress (IRC) as well as other authorities for construction of the flyovers.

The PIL states that in order to reduce the jamming and clogging of roads, a two-pronged strategy should be adopted as per accepted industry practice. The first is to reduce the number of personalized motorized transport on the roads by providing alternate convenient and comfortable public transportation. The second is to provide adequate road space and interchanges (bridges, flyovers, etc) after establishing the need for this infrastructure and provided it is cost-effective.

"Respondent No.1 ( PMC) has failed time and again to increase public transportation to accommodate the increasing burden of commuters and to ease the traffic situation, but largely laid undue stress on just improving the road widths, constructing additional roads and flyovers. The fact remains that the traffic situation has not eased in spite of spending crores of rupees on road infrastructure," the PIL states.

The petitioners have stated that the general body (GB) approved the Comprehensive Mobility Plan (CMP) in May 2012 and included the proposed CoEP flyover in it as it did not figure in the original list prepared by consultants Wilbur Smith Associates. The plan gives the mission for Pune city as "Moving people safely and economically by emphasizing public transport and non-motorized transport."

Flyovers, and particularly the CoEP one, are not public transport and non-motorised transport-friendly. The flyover does not have any footpaths or cycle tracks over it and flyovers generally do not have bus stops.

Moreover, there are questions being asked about how will a flyover come up near a railway overbridge. A city-based environmental activist said the civic body has no details about what they actually plan to do. "There is an overbridge connecting Sancheti Chowk with CoEP junction. The civic body says it is going to integrate this overbridge with the flyover, but nobody knows what it means in reality. The planning, designing and drawing, everything has been done in haste. Despite repeated demands civic activists are not given details about the proposed flyovers. People should why the PMC is in such a hurry," he said.

A senior PMC official, requesting anonymity, said, "The PMC will answer all the objections, if the court asks us to do so. The civic body has followed all the norms during construction of flyovers and the CoEP flyover's design was finalized after consultations with the college authorities in the presence of deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar. The plan was cleared only after following due procedure."