PCMC spent Rs 4.98 crore on stalled BRTS route last year

By Supriya Dedgaonkar

Corporator demands answers, but civic body officials say amount spent for annual maintenance work

The Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) has been spending agenerous amount received from the state and central governments on the Nigdi-Dapodi Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS), which has been non-functional since 2012, owing to safety concerns.

It has come to the fore that the civic body has spent whopping Rs 4.98 crore in 2017-18 on maintaining and servicing the Nigdi-Dapodi BRTS.

This information was discovered by Sachin Bhosale, corporator from Wakad division, when he wrote to the PCMC in April 18. In his letter to the corporation, he sought information on the amount spent on the Nigdi-Dapodi BRTS in 2017-18.

Subsequently, the PCMC responded to Bhosale, stating an amount of Rs 4.98 crore was spent in the aforementioned year. Also, the corridor from Nigdi to Dapodi was constructed at a cost of Rs 27 crore and planned some five years ago. However, it never saw the light of the day as a petition was filed in the Bombay High Court regarding its faulty design and lack of safety measures for both pedestrians and commuters.

When contacted, Vijay Bhojane, PCMC spokesperson, said, “We carry out maintenance work every year and spent around Rs 4.98 crore for it. In 2017-18, we spent the money on repairing dedicated panels and signals and tarring the four lanes adjacent to the BRTS corridor. We should be receiving the HC’s judgment about the project by end of this month.”

However, Bhosale said that the corridor continues to be in a pathetic condition despite spending an enormous amount on its maintenance. The corporator said, “The corridor is in a sorry state despite spending such a huge amount on its maintenance work. The officials said that Rs 4.98 crore was spent on the route, but the BRTS has been non-functional for years now.”

Meanwhile in April, the Pune Metro officials had started laying foundation pillars for a Metro route on the Nigdi-Dapodi BRTS. The Metro officials said that PCMC’s consent was sought for this purpose, but were later asked to change the alignment.

Gautam Birhade, chief project manager (civil), Pune Metro, said, “We had laid two foundation pillars in that area and had discussed the matter with PCMC officials. However, we were soon asked to demolish the structures after the police commissioner’s probe. The pillars are currently being demolished.”

Talking about this, Bhojane explained, “We had never allowed the Metro authorities to carry out this activity on the Nigdi-Dapodi BRTS and had sent them a letter, asking to stop the work and change the alignment at the earliest.”

Meanwhile Bhosale said that the PCMC has spent Rs 890 crore in a span of 10 years for the BRTS project. However, there was no calculation stated for Rs 115 crore, while the one mentioned for the remaining Rs 776 crore is justified, Bhosale added.