Civic body sorts out legal tangles in Sangamwadi bypass road work
Updated: Mar 16, 2018, 08:39 IST
PUNE: A portion of the Sangamwadi bypass that was dug up and barricaded for widening a month ago is an accident-prone spot. But the road construction work that had halted over a legal roadblock is expected to resume in a few days.
Pune Municipal Corporation(PMC) built the bypass on leased land, owned by different people. Last month, PMC started work to extend the existing bus rapid transit system (BRTS) corridor on the road till the bridge on the Mula river. The civic body dug up a portion to widen the heavily-used stretch to accommodate the BRTS corridor.
But the owner of the land objected to the construction as soon as after the excavation work began. “Since the owner of the land objected to any construction, we had no option but to stop work. A few days ago, we had discussions with the owner. He has agreed to let us continue with the work in view of the public interest. We will restart the work in a few days,” a senior engineer of PMC road department said, adding that besides the widening of the road, a new retaining wall will be constructed till the Mula bridge.
The poorly-lit stretch, about 15-20 metres in length, has an open space nearby that is being used as a terminus by private bus owners. “The buses entering or exiting the terminus pose a danger to the drivers of other vehicles,” commuters said, adding that the diversion on the stretch causes a huge inconvenience to them.
For now, however, nearly two lanes of the Shivajinagar-bound flank have been blocked due to the incomplete construction. Crucial utilities like drainage pipes and natural gas pipelines have been left exposed. A trunk gas line owned by the Maharashtra Natural Gas Limited (MNGL) has been propped up to prevent damage or leakage.
“We have to keep two persons posted here all the time, in case if anything goes wrong with the exposed pipeline. Nothing has happened till now, but we have to keep an eye out,” said an MNGL engineer at the site.
Source : Times Of India
