Maha-Metro has already acquired about 27,000 sq metre of the 48,904 sq-metre godown plot. Express
The tallest commercial building in the city may soon come up at the site of the foodgrains godown, opposite the district court premises, in Shivajinagar. It is part of the master plan by the Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation Limited, or Maha-Metro, which is in charge of implementing the Pune Metro project. Maha-Metro is planning to construct two interconnected stations, of two different Metro routes, at the 48,904 sq-metre godown site in the first phase. In the second phase, it is planning to build the 160-metre tall commercial structure, in order to raise 5 per cent of its total revenue target. The Union government had earlier directed all Metro projects in the country to raise revenue from other sources to support the public transport system.
“The mega infrastructure project at the location will include an underground station for the Swargate to Pimpri-Chinchwad route, and an overhead station for the elevated route from Vanaz to Ramwadi. These stations will be developed in the same plot, but separately, in the first phase. They will be connected to each other via an underground subway,” said Atul Gadgil, executive director of the Pune Metro project.
He said a final decision on building the commercial structure was yet to be taken. “…The commercial building will require a large investment and there are plans to explore the development through the public-private-partnership model…,” said Gadgil.
Gadgil said the Metro rail route from Hinjewadi to Shivajinagar, to be developed by the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority, may be built on the other side of the court premises, and connected to the other two other stations via a skywalk.
“The plan to connect it is in place, unless the station location of PMRDA changes…,” he said.
Maha-Metro has already acquired about 27,000 sq metre of the godown plot. The remaining area, covered by slums, is yet to be handed over to the agency by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) . “The district administration and PMC have been asked to acquire the land for the Pune Metro project… that will happen soon after rehabilitating slum-dwellers in the area,” said Gadgil.
The PMC will be asked to develop the proposed riverside road, near the Pune Metro station site, to ensure smooth flow of traffic in the area.
The Pune Metro project is also set to start work on a double-decker bridge on Karve Road. “The PMC wants to invite the Chief Minister to lay the foundation stone of the bridge… after which, the work will begin,” said Gadgil. He said the first level of the bridge will be for road traffic and the second level will be designated for the Metro route.