Janwani wants city's second Metro corridor to be laid underground

An elevated metro between Yerawada and Vanaz will lead to traffic congestion and inconvenience to commuters between Karve Road and Jungli Maharaj Road and hence the 10 km stretch should be underground, city-based NGO Janwani has demanded.

In a study published by the NGO’s experts, it has been observed that while the first corridor between Swargate and Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) seemed viable in the proposed underground form, the second corridor between Vanaz and Ramwadi needs to be relooked into.

The panel, that comprised Rajendra Mahulkar, Dr Ketan Gokhale, Professor Ramchandra Gohad, Suhas Mantri, N Karmalkar, Shirish Kembhavi, Kiran Kulkarni, Komal Potdar and Shruti Vaishampayan, has suggested that instead of a completely elevated second corridor, the Pune Municipal Corporation should consider 10 km underground and 3 km elevated option.

The report acknowledges that the proposed changes will lead to hike in costs by almost Rs 2,700 crore, but pointed that initial investments could be reduced by selecting locations and number of stations for optimising speed, preferring air-cooling over air-conditioning as practiced in Kolkata, calling for global tenders and optimising the size of metro stations.

The panel met the PMC Officer on Special Duty (OSD), Pune Metro, Shashikant Limaye to discuss the suggestions made in the report. The officer, according to Janwani panel, agreed it was a good option but it was unclear if the suggestions made by Janwani would be accepted.

Corridor II (Vanaz- Ramwadi)
Type: Fully elevated
Length: 14.925 km
Total stations: 15
Cost: Rs1,940 crore (July 2009), Rs 2,358 cr (June 2013, at 5% compounded p.a.) without interest during construction; Cost Rs Cr/ km = 158

Janwani’s proposal
Corridor II (Vanaz-Ramwadi) which is proposed as fully elevated needs to be conceived as partially underground between Vanaz and Yerawada. The reasons for this suggestion are:

Traffic congestion and inconvenience for commuters due to diversions and decreased road carriageway during construction on Karve Road and Jungli Maharaj Road

Metro alignment proposed in the vicinity of Jungli Maharaj temple and Grade I Archaeological Monument of Pataleshwar Caves

Metro on Karve Road and JM Road will affect their skyline

Delays due to litigations owing to land acquisition