Pune City Roads And Infrastructure Projects Need An Inclusive And Consultative Approach

Sudhir Mehta

Pune, 12th December 2021: The World Bank describes roads as “the arteries through which economy pulses”. This is one of the most articulate and befitting description of critical urban infrastructure, that empowers cities and facilitates their role as engines of economic growth.

If we analyze the World Bank data, it lends more to roads than education, health and social services put together, once again underlining the vitality of road network to any development agenda. Despite understanding the need, availability of resources and technological developments our road design, construction and maintenance always fails, I wonder why?

The latest addition to our ill-conceived planning is the flyover at University Chowk at Pune. It is one of the most important intersections and primary entry points into the city. At the peak hours in the morning and evening, it witnesses an average of 26,717 vehicles, whereas the number of vehicles passing through this junction each day is estimated at 2.25 lakh.

It was built in 2006 to solve the traffic problem and it was demolished in 2020 to solve the same traffic issue. Not to mention with or without the flyover traffic woes in that square and on Ganeshkhind road have persisted. It is a glaring example of political apathy but more alarmingly one more instance where the policymakers have exploited citizens’ ignorance to suit their own needs rather than the demands of the city & its citizens.

The worrying trend is citizens are completely excluded from the process.

There is hardly any serious attempt to involve people in this entire process of construction-demolition-reconstruction. When the flyover was constructed in 2006 and demolished last year, there were hardly any consultative meetings took place to inform people of the city on the issues of planning, design, timeline, and traffic management. No genuine inputs were sought from field experts other than a few token meetings to fulfil the administrative requirements.

Why don’t we get it right in the first place? We have extensive development plans spanning over a period of 20 years, a dedicated road department in the municipal council, a separate planning authority for the metropolitan region, technical and best practices across the world compiled and provided by special purpose vehicles like Smart City offices. With new modes of transportation being introduced in the city such as the metro – again we have a separate entity for designing and execution.

Yet, there’s hardly any improvement in road conditions and traffic situations. Unfortunately, one of the glaring lacunae is multiple authorities with zero responsibility.

The flyover at the university chowk was constructed in 2006 by Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC). At the time of inauguration, the authorities had acknowledged the error in planning. Despite the expert opinion of the double carriageway, the bridge had only one carriageway. Pune was one of the fastest-growing cities with an IT boom coupled with rapid growth in the real estate sector. It is common to man’s knowledge that Pune has the highest number of two-wheelers in India. These plain facts were ignored by the planning authority and common Punekar is not just paying the cost but made to suffer on daily basis.

Now, the bridge is demolished citing the proposed construction of Shivajinagar-Hinjewadi Metro. One year passed since the demolition new construction yet to be commenced. As I understand the timeline for the construction of the new multi-layer bridge is close to 3.5 years, plus the 1.5 years already wasted; Punekars will be subjected to this chaos for close to 5 years. In this day & age of 24/7 modern & prefab construction techniques, this timeline is unacceptable.

We as Punekars need to raise our voice again about the lack of transparency by the Government. It is a travesty if well-meaning experts with knowledge, expertise and experience are not given an opportunity to participate and possibly help to achieve project outcomes. Pune has always thrived and overcome difficulties (including COVID19) with a collaborative approach. I urge the local & State government to do the same, be inclusive and increase citizen participation in this and other major infrastructural projects for the city.

(Sudhir Mehta is the Chairman & Managing Director, Pinnacle Industries Limited, Pune, and President, Mahratta Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture (MCCIA), Pune. The views expressed are strictly his own. He can be contacted on Email: [email protected]  Twitter: @sudhirmehtapune)