The third phase of the Pune Metro Rail project would address the traffic woes of lakhs of professionals working and living in one of India’s biggest IT hubs, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said here on Tuesday after laying the foundation stone of Line 3 of the Pune Metro rail project.
The 23.3 km stretch will link Pune’s IT hub in Hinjewadi with Shivajinagar in the heart of the city.
Speaking at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Sports complex in Balewadi, Mr. Modi said,“The Metro is fast turning into a lifeline of a growing city. People, be they students, professionals or businessmen do not want to waste valuable time on commute. They want to maintain a proper work-life balance. This line [bridging Hinjewadi with Shivajinagar] will considerably provide relief to citizens hassled by traffic congestion.” The line is being developed by the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) on the Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) basis at an estimated cost of ₹8,313 crore.
Reiterating the Centre’s commitment to enhancing connectivity in cities, Mr. Modi said the Hinjewadi-Shivajinagar Metro was the first project to be based on a public-private partnership (PPP) model under the Centre’s new policy introduced in 2016.
Crediting the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government for bringing the Delhi Metro project to fruition, Mr. Modi administered a veiled rebuke to the opposition for their tardiness in executing development works.
“If the Vajpayee government had been given more time, then all parts of Mumbai and many other cities would have been connected by Metro till now…our government has given infrastructural projects like the Metro rail speed and scale,” he said, observing that 650 km of new Metro lines in the country would be completed in the near future.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the proposed Metro line would also help improve the efficiency of Hinjewadi’s IT workforce.
“Lakhs of people working at the Hinjewadi IT park have helped put Pune on the global map. Yet, they have had to face severe traffic problems and lose valuable time in their daily commute. So, the decision to launch this metro line was taken by keeping in mind people who are creating jobs and value for us,” Mr. Fadnavis said.
He said that employees would be directly able to reach the gates of their offices once the line was completed.
“This will not only help save precious commute time but also help reduce environmental pollution,” said the Chief Minister, adding that the deployment electric buses in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad in conjunction of the Metro routes would considerably reduce the city’s traffic problems in the future.
Union Minister Prakash Javadekar and Governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao were also present on the occasion.
Opposition boycotts
However, while Pune Guardian Minister Girish Bapat and MP Anil Shirole were present on the dais with the PM, conspicuously absent were NCP MP Supriya Sule as well as the two Shiv Sena MPs of Pune district – Shrirang Barne from Maval and Shivajirao Adhalrao-Patil from Shirur - who decided to skip the inauguration as their names were ‘missing’ from the list of invitees.
“The invitation card that I received only carried the name of BJP MP Anil Shirole. It only reflects the condescending attitude of the BJP which wants to grab all the credit for the development works,” said Mr. Adhalrao-Patil.