Pune: Wadgaon Sheri’s NCP (SP) MLA Bapu Pathare raised the issue of Pune residents facing daily traffic congestion in the assembly on Thursday and said the slow pace of infrastructure projects, such as ring roads and elevated corridors, was the reason behind rising hardships for commuters.The MLA was part of a discussion on a motion moved by the opposition under rule 293 of the Maharashtra legislative assembly, when he highlighted the problem of Pune’s long-pending projects which inconvenience residents.He said, “It is over 10 years and the work of the inner and outer ring roads project is still going on. The late Ajit Pawar was pushing for its quick completion in the current term of Mahayuti. Who will take up the responsibility after his death to ensure the work is sped up and people get relief?”The politician also mentioned that the elevated corridors on Nagar Road and Hadapsar Road, meant to ease traffic movement, had seen little progress. “Union minister Nitin Gadkari is appreciated for supervising speedy road works across the country. However, the elevated corridors projects he had announced have failed to take off in Pune,” he said.“One of the projects is a double-decker elevated corridor from Pune to Ranjangaon, but it remains on paper. Commuters, particularly in the Pune Municipal Corporation limits, continue to suffer on an everyday basis. They end up spending hours in traffic congestion. Another project of elevated corridor is from Bhairoba Nala to Yavat on Pune-Solapur highway. That has also not started,” he said.The NCP (SP) has demanded that the state govt intervene and speed up all road projects to improve Pune’s traffic situation. “The civic and district administration of Pune is not keen to expedite these projects. The public works department is also just sitting on it. The state must intervene at the earliest, otherwise the traffic situationin Pune will worsen in the next few years,” Pathare added.
