The PMC will also construct new roads and gardens in the newly-merged 11 villages in the civic jurisdiction. (Photo by Manoj More/File)
The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has decided to construct foot overbridges at 20 locations across the city to make it easier for pedestrians to cross congested roads. The projects will be carried out via the public-private partnership model.
In a proposal tabled in the civic technical committee, the PMC administration said it plans to construct 20-foot overbridges at crucial roads that witness heavy traffic flow. These include the old Pune-Mumbai Highway Road, Nagar Road, Magarapatta Road, Solapur Road, Kondhwa, Satara Road, Bibewadi Road, Nehru Road, Baner Road, Aundh and University Road, among others.
In another proposal, the civic administration sought relaxation in the amount a private agency has to deposit, for a joint project to beautify and maintain traffic islands and dividers. “There are 181 gardens developed by the PMC and many more are being developed… the development and maintenance of new gardens have increased the responsibility of the garden department staff and there isn’t sufficient manpower to take the responsibility of beautification and maintenance of traffic islands and dividers, as new roads are being developed in the city,” stated the proposal.
“There was a decision to hand over the beautification and maintenance work of road dividers and traffic islands in the city to projects of public-private partnership or Corporate Social Responsibility, so that civic manpower doesn’t have to deal with additional burden. The rates were fixed for the work,” stated the proposal
But the PMC has not received much response due to its high rates, so the private companies planning to take up the work should be charged only 5 per cent of the total project cost as deposit for the work, it said.
The PMC will also construct new roads and gardens in the newly-merged 11 villages in the civic jurisdiction, it said.