The proposal for underground metro project on Vanaz to Ramwadi route in the city was effectively rejected by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) general body (GB) on Tuesday.
The proposal for underground metro project on Vanaz to Ramwadi route in the city was effectively rejected by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) general body (GB) on Tuesday. The ruling Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) allowed its consideration to be adjourned till March 2012, despite support by deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar.
With this development a possible hurdle in implementation of 15-km elevated metro railway project was removed, as the passage of underground metro project proposal would have resulted in trashing all work done for elevated metro.
Post-February 2012 PMC polls, political equations in the civic body would change and, meanwhile, the state government may approve and forward the elevated metro project to the central government. Thus, the path for the elevated metro project was cleared due to the failure to pass a resolution for the underground one. Had the GB approved the underground metro proposal, it would have required starting the long process again.
It was an opportunity for the ruling NCP to pass the proposal with Shiv Sena and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) support, but it did not attempt to do it.
When the resolution was declared for consideration, the group leader of Congress in PMC and leader of opposition, Aba Bagul, moved a supplementary resolution to adjourn the proposal to March 2012.
Instead of opposing the adjournment motion, the NCP supported it in alliance with the Congress. The adjournment motion was passed with 25 votes in favour and 19 in opposition. Most of the NCP members were absent in the house during the voting.
Shiv Sena and MNS members, and independent corporator Ujwal Keskar, opposed the resolution.
While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) abstained from voting, its member and chairman of standing committee Ganesh Bidkar supported the adjournment motion.
The PMC had approved a proposal for elevated metro in June 2010 and sent it to the state government for approval and to forward it to the central government for final approval. Chief minister (CM) Prithviraj Chavan had declared in the city on October 31 that the state government was working on the financial package for the elevated metro project.
Following the CM’s declaration, the NCP, which was instrumental in passing the resolution of elevated metro, changed its stand as deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar asked for an underground metro instead of the elevated one. Against this background, independent corporator Ujwal Keskar had moved a proposal before the GB for underground metro.
A similar proposal for underground metro from Vanaz to Ramwadi was defeated a few days ago in the PMC standing committee as the Congress and the BJP joined hands to oppose it and Bidkar used his casting vote as a chairman.
Then, the NCP had joined hands with Sena to support the resolution for underground metro.
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