If you were on Jangli Maharaj Road on Sunday evening, you would have seen a group of people of all ages participating in a protest march. Greeny was there too, with some friends. The protest march was organized to draw people's attention towards a critical issue that would impact Pune for at least the next 100 years, if not more.
The problem of traffic congestion has been growing at an alarming pace in the past few years. As the number of vehicles keeps increasing, the city's infrastructure of roads is finding it difficult to cope. I am sure you have faced a situation where you spent 15 minutes just looking for parking to do a task that itself took less than 10 minutes.
Opinions and plans have flown thick and fast from all corners of society to resolve this situation. More bridges got built across the river, roads were widened where possible, one-way traffic was enforced (then cancelled, then reinforced again!) new roads were built, and so on. But the pace of these changes has always been insufficient to catch up with the pace of the growing problem.
One option amongst these is construction of a metro rail system in Pune. A metro has been operational in Kolkata for many years. The Delhi Metro is getting built at a furious pace and Mumbai is getting its metro too.
Now, a metro does not come about just like that. It requires careful planning and efficient execution.
The Pune Metro seems to be going in a direction where the word 'careful' has been omitted from planning.
This issue is going to become bigger by every passing day and surely this will not be the only post on this issue here. Greeny believes that a Metro will help solve Pune's traffic woes, but NOT in the way it is being envisaged.
There are several points to ponder about. You can actually download a presentation from here to study all the points in detail.
One would expect a metro to be underground, right? But Greeny read that the entire 14-odd kilometers of the metro from Vanaz on Paud road to Ramwadi is going to be ELEVATED. This will surely cause bigger problems than the ones it promises to solve.
Greeny is concerned. PMC has already shown how it can implement a project haphazardly. The one-way system of Ferguson and JM road was badly managed. A road was constructed along the river bed, but its approach roads are extremely narrow. Widening and concreting of Paud Road has been going on for three years and has no end in sight. Most of all, the biggest example of this ineptitude is the BRTS).
Opinions and plans have flown thick and fast from all corners of society to resolve this situation. More bridges got built across the river, roads were widened where possible, one-way traffic was enforced (then cancelled, then reinforced again!) new roads were built, and so on. But the pace of these changes has always been insufficient to catch up with the pace of the growing problem.
One option amongst these is construction of a metro rail system in Pune. A metro has been operational in Kolkata for many years. The Delhi Metro is getting built at a furious pace and Mumbai is getting its metro too.
The Pune Metro seems to be going in a direction where the word 'careful' has been omitted from planning.
This issue is going to become bigger by every passing day and surely this will not be the only post on this issue here. Greeny believes that a Metro will help solve Pune's traffic woes, but NOT in the way it is being envisaged.
There are several points to ponder about. You can actually download a presentation from here to study all the points in detail.
One would expect a metro to be underground, right? But Greeny read that the entire 14-odd kilometers of the metro from Vanaz on Paud road to Ramwadi is going to be ELEVATED. This will surely cause bigger problems than the ones it promises to solve.
Greeny is concerned. PMC has already shown how it can implement a project haphazardly. The one-way system of Ferguson and JM road was badly managed. A road was constructed along the river bed, but its approach roads are extremely narrow. Widening and concreting of Paud Road has been going on for three years and has no end in sight. Most of all, the biggest example of this ineptitude is the BRTS).
Greeny invites you to join the Pune Metro Jagruti Abhiyan. Its main aims are
- Make this particular DPR as public as possible so that citizens of Pune can make an informed decision.
- Undertake a mass signature campaign to oppose the current form of the proposal.
- Make representations to the city and state authorities.
- Connect with and work in solidarity with like-minded citizen groups, technical bodies, NGOs and other active groups to reach out to as many Puneites as possible because the actual users/ stakeholders in this project.
- Seek print and electronic media’s support in creating mass awareness.
- Explore possibilities of a legal recourse.
