Metro to realign route near Aga Khan Palace

PUNE: Union human resource development minister Prakash Javadekar on Monday said the Metro rail project near Aga Khan Palace will be realigned.
The National Monuments Authority (NMA) recently rejected the MahaMetro Rail Corporation’s application for its Metro rail alignment near the palace, a national monument declared in 2003, on the Pune-Ahmednagar road.

“Metro officials are now working on providing alternative routes,” said Javadekar, who was in the city to chair the district development committee meeting to review various projects funded by the Union government in Pune district.

The minister also reviewed the Phase One of the Mula Mutha rejuvenation project and said 50% of the Japan International Cooperation Agency’s scheme for the abatement of river pollution will be completed by March.

On the #MeToo movement, Javadekar said laws were in place for grievance redressal, including internal (complaints) committee in colleges. “What is needed is better implementation of the laws,” Javadekar said, though he refused to comment on the charges of sexual harassment levelled against Union minister M J Akbar.

On the uncertainty the Indian engineers are facing in Kuwait after its announcement that no-objection certificates to work would be given to only those who have passed out of colleges accredited by National Board of Accreditation, he said the Gulf country has been urged to reconsider the decision.

“A delegation from Kuwait recently came to India. Its members visited and interacted with many engineering colleges and other institutes in the country. We have conveyed to them in writing that colleges with approval from All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) are also good. We have provided them with a list of colleges approved by AICTE,” Javadekar said.