Ar. Pushkar Kanvinde is an Architect and Urban Designer and an academician. He is the Chairman of Pune Centre of Institute of Urban Designers India and heads the BKPS College of Architecture, Pune. He is actively involved in issues related to City Development, Urban Transport in Pune City. Traffic, Transportation and commuting in Pune City are complex issues now that need a multi pronged and multi-modal approach. PMC has through an internationally reputed consultant firm prepared a Comprehensive Mobility Plan (CMP) for Pune City which proposes a multi-modal approach involving all different modes of transportation possible.

METRO issues

The Pune metro is being projected as a ‘magic wand’ that will resolve the traffic and transport issues of Pune which is not true. The way it is planned today, the network lacks coordination with other modes as expected in the CMP. Designed as a stand alone network it is above or parallel to existing Bus and BRTS and hence will compete and duplicate the system. Inconvenient locations of stations are an issue. Its reach to many nodes and dormitory areas leaves much to be desired. Therefore the efficacy of the system is questionable.

Consider the two routes that are planned for first two phases. The Vanaz-Ramwadi route will serve very  few commuters from Paud road and Nagar road since dormitory areas like Bavdhan, Chandan nagar and Karvenagar remain unserved.The DMRC report expects critical ridership only by 2031. The elevated nature of the route has its own issues. Shivajinagar Station which is major commuting hub and its station near Pune Railway Station will not be easily reachable. Implementation at Deccan Gymkhana, Engg.

College hostels requiring acquiring and demolishing many existing buildings will be a challenge. So also crossing of existing tracks near Sangam bridge and Pune railway station where permission from Railways are extremely hard to come.

The second route, Pimpri-Chinchwad to Swargate runs over the Mumbai Pune road, parallel to existing Railway line and directly above BRTS that is being executed. These will compete amongst each other.

On both these routes during the construction phase effective road width of some important arteries like J. M. Road, Karve Road, Dr. Ambedkar Road, Bund garden road will be reduced to half. It will be a traffic

nightmare on these arteries which experience traffic jams during non-peak hours even today for the duration of construction. Cutting of Huge grown trees would an environmentally detrimental outcome.

The century old image of the City will be affected badly. The proposal to provide 4 times FSI on 1 km wide belt on either sides of metro spells disaster. The density of traffic and people on street in all these areas is already very high. 4 times more floor space will simply add 4 times population. There will be no space left even to walk. Further, most of these areas fall into high capital cost category and the buyers will therefore be necessarily from HIG with very high family vehicle ownership. Also the cost of providing civic amenities and services to this area will negate the earning which is gained through sale of FSI.

All these are effects of lack of vision and comprehensive approach to resolving transport problems.

The way ahead

A city of multi-modal nature like Pune needs solution using multiple modes of transport complementing each other and creating a wide and accessible network. Ideally Metro with high capacity and speed

should be its trunk line that feeds /receives from BRTS that form semi-trunk lines and Bus system forms collector and distributor network. Auto Rickshaw and personalized modes can also be part of collector distributor network.

The proposed metro route must also touch all the Work Districts and major transit nodes of Pune and also extend to suburban work centres like MIDCs at Talegaon, Chakan, Ranjangaon, etc.

The metro routes should run as

A. Bawdhan – Paud Road – Karve nagar - Deccan- Shivajinagar station - Pune Railway Station - Bund Garden – Ramwadi – Kharadi – Wagholi. Later extended to Lonikand- Shikrapur- Ranjangaon MIDC

A1. Branch from Bawdhan to Hinjewadi – Aundh to connect to Route B

A2. Branch from Bavdhan to Lavale and Pirangut.

A3. Branch from Ramwadi to Viman nagar and Airport.

A4. Branch from Kharadi to go to Hadapsar, to join B1.

B. Chakan – Talawade – Chikhali - Chinchwad - Aundh- Shivajinagar - Mandai – Swargate – Bibwewadi – Dhankawadi - Katraj. Later extended to proposed New Airport from Chakan on the north and Narhe Ambegaon, Khadakwasla on South.

B1. Branch from Shivajinagar to Cantoment- Hadapsar – Phursungi. Later to be extended to Saswad.

B2. Branch from Cantonment extended to Kondwa, Undri, Pisoli.

                                                                                                          Noted By:-    

                                                                                               

                                                                                         Ar. Pushkar Kanvinde    

Ar. Pushkar Kanvinde is an Architect and Urban Designer and an academician. He is the Chairman of Pune Centre of       Institute of Urban Designers India and heads the BKPS College of Architecture, Pune. He is actively involved in issues       related to City Development, Urban Transport in Pune City.     

General :

Pune Metropolitan Area which principally comprises Pune city, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Kahdki Cantt and Pune Cantt, is one of the most rapidly growing urban centers in India. The population of this conglomerate has increased from 50 lakhs in 2008 to 55 lakhs in 2011 and is projected to grow to 68 lakhs and 77 lakhs in 2021 and 2031 respectively. The service sector in terms of Software Parks along with automobile manufacturing sector on the outskirts of this conglomerate is continuing to give a rapid impetus to this growth. Public transport has not kept pace with this rapid increase in population as is the case with most of the urban centers in India. Keeping this situation in view a number of Traffic studies were undertaken by Pune Municipal Corporation during the past 1 ½ decade. A Comprehensive Mobility Plan (CMP) was evolved by IIT Bombay for Pune region in 2006. CMP conceived various projects to satisfy the transportation demand of commuters in Pune area by focusing on public transport systems. It comprised widening of roads, new arterial roads (ring roads etc), BRTS and an efficient Metro Rail System. The objective was to increase the share of Public Transport from a meager 18 % to 80 %. Non availability of efficient public transport has lead to unmanageable increase in personalized transport in terms of four wheelers and two wheelers. The results are obvious and are felt by every puneite in terms of traffic congestions, unacceptable levels of air and noise pollution, increase in number of road accidents and adverse effects on the health of two wheeler riders.

Pune Metro Project- Phase I

As a follow up on CMP along with several other schemes under JNNURM, Pune Municipal Corporation appointed Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) to prepare DPR for Pune Metro in 2008. DMRC submitted the DPR in 2009 prioritizing two corridors under Phase I viz. (i) PCMC to Swargate (16.589 km) and (ii) Vanaz to Ramwadi (14.925 km). The salient features of the two Std Gauge (1435 mm) Metro Corridors are tabulated below :

Chart :

The two proposed corridors run along following routes :

Corridor 1 : PCMC – Kasarwadi – Dapodi – Bopodi - Khadki – Range Hill- Shivajinagar – Mandai - Swargate  (underground between Range Hill/Shivajinagar to Swargate)

Corridor 2 :   Vanaz (Kothrud)- Nal Stop - Deccan Gymkhana - Civil Court - Pune Railway Station - Bund Garden – Yerwada - Ramwadi. (fully elevated)

Two maintenance depots are planned, one for each corridor i.e. (Corridor 1) at Agricultural College and (Corridor 2) Vanaz Katchara Depot.

The proposed elevated portions of the corridors generally run along arterial roads and in highly built up congested city areas i.e. from Agricultural College to Swargate (Corridor 1) the Metro is proposed as underground.

Presently, Pune Metro Project Phase 1 comprising of the above two corridors is in the process of receiving final approval from Govt. of Maharashtra and Govt. of India.  

Estimated Cost and Time Frame

The estimated cost of the two corridors is as below :

Corridor 2, which is fully Elevated is expected to be completed in four years from the date of commencement of the work whereas Corridor 2 which comprises about 5 km underground section in the congested city areas is likely to get completed in five years.

The Project is conceived to be implemented by a separate SPV with funding pattern broadly as follows :

Govt of India -                              20 %

Govt. of Maharashtra -                  20%

Municipal Corporations -               10 %

Loan from funding Agencies-          50%

Metro System - Choice of Gauge, Elevated v/s Underground and Spread

Provision of an effective and reliable public transport system for the City of Pune and its surroundings in terms of a modern Metro Rail System is one of the imperatives if the city desires to maintain its premier place as a destination for investment in India. Pune has already lagged behind other competing destinations such as Bengalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Jaipur and Ahmedabad. In these cities the works on Metro projects are rapidly progressing and proposals for Phase 2 of Metro in some of these cities are already under the consideration of Govt. of India.

Pune obviously cannot afford any more delay. The delay has taken place due to various views and counterviews on some issues, important amongst them being Gauge and Underground v/s Elevated. Standard Gauge is the gauge adopted for Metros all over the world and also in most of the Metro Projects currently in progress in India and the latter is based on vary sound reasons. Between Broad Gauge and Std Gauge there is only a marginal difference in carrying capacity of commuters. The latter is however not the criteria for Metro Trains, it is the frequency of trains which is the important factor which is achieved by modern signaling systems. The oft repeated suggestion of making the entire Pune Metro as Underground has to be viewed in the light of substantial increase in Capital Expenditure, increase in construction time, greater disturbance to roads and adjacent properties during construction and higher Operation and Maintenance costs. The CAPEX alone goes up by as much as Rs 300 cr per km for change from elevated to underground. This will mean increased burden for debt servicing and increased fares for the citizens of Pune. A technically feasible Elevated Metro is ideal for the Indian conditions particularly when the country needs to get maximum advantage from every Rupee invested to implement long overdue infrastructure projects. It is pertinent to note that only 25 %, 21 %, 0 %, 20 %, 9.2 % of route lengths of Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Jaipur and Kolkata (Rlys) Metro systems are conceived as underground. Pune Metro Phase I envisages about 16 % as underground which is comparable with the above figures.

There is also a demand for extending the present Metro alignment to farther areas. Projects of such magnitude and complexity are always executed in Phases. It needs to be emphasized that the present proposal is called Phase I meaning that further extensions are bound to occur under Pune Metro Phase 2 to Phase 4 for which preliminary studies have already been carried out by DMRC. 65 km of Delhi Metro Phase I has grown to 196 km today and rapidly progressing towards a length of 300 km route length.

 Metro Rail – Advantages

The oft repeated advantages of Metro Systems in any City need to be reemphasized as these are now based on actual experience in Delhi (DMRC).

                Comfortable, quick, safe and economic travel (increased efficiency of work force in offices and industries)

                Energy efficient mode of transport.

                Reduction in Noise and Air pollution.

                Saving in fossil fuel

           Improvement in employability - individuals get more choices in terms of jobs and locations of residence.

                Brings in social inclusion

                Equalization of property prices

                Opening new areas for commercial and residential development.

Conclusion

No doubt that construction of Pune Metro is an ambitious Project and its implementation will pose numerous challenges. However, with several achievements of much higher order in implementation of a number of complex projects behind us there is no need for any kind of diffidence. For a metropolitan area leaping towards a population of 80 lakhs it is imperative to take up the implementation of Pune 

Shashikant Limaye     

BE (Civil), M.Tech (Struct. E), IRSE (Retd.)     

Officer on Special Duty Pune Metro Project,     

Pune Municipal Corporation     

What is the Current Status of the Pune Metro Proposal?

Presently, the proposal for Pune Metro for the Corridor Vanaz to Ramwadi and Swargate to Nigdi is with the State Government awaiting Cabinet approval which should happen shortly. Earlier the Vanaz

Ramwadi route was approved by the State Government and the proposal forwarded to the Central Government. But the Central Government issued directions to make a joint proposal involving both the
corridors. Accordingly the proposal has now been put up. Also the estimated prices have been reviewed to January 2013 prices. The memorandum of association of the proposed SPV “ Pune Mahanagar Metro

Rail Corporation” has also been sent for Cabinet approval.

What is the path forward once the State Cabinet approves the proposal?

The proposal once approved at State level, will be forwarded to the Central Government where it will be directed to various ministries like Railways, Finance, Urban Development and Environment. On getting

their clearance, the proposal will go to the planning commission and then post Cabinet approval, it will be sent to the Public Investment board.

What kind of timelines one can consider for the future steps?

The Cabinet Clearance at State Government level should happen in about 3 weeks. Thereafter the proposal would move to the Central Government. If things move at a fairly good pace, the actual work

can commence post the next monsoon. What are the aspects the Pune Metro Cell working on in the meantime?

In the meantime, We are working on finalising the alignment, reviewing location of some Stations to improve connectivity and interchange of the two lines. We have identified, Kasarwadi, Shivajinagar,

Mandai, Deccan Gymkhana Bus stand, PMC Building and Swargate as major points of interchange.

Also We are relooking at the end points from point of view of expandability of the system. We are also in dialogue with the Railways and PMPML in order to have a seamless integration of all modes of

transport.

What do you think would be a long term impact of Metro on the Development of Pune City?

Once the entire system becomes operational, the distances would not matter and people can opt for jobs away from their place of stay. The Connectivity will result into a healthy, stress free and

comfortable commute. The Metro system will bring about more equalisation in property prices as it

woul improve the overall accessibility within the City. It will help rebuild the City by giving the necessary impetus. A lot of infrastructure strengthening would happen as a result of the FSI enhancement en

route. It has been found that the Noise levels too come down by 10 to 20 db once private vehicle usage comes down post Metro. Metro will also bring about “Social equivalence” as there is no class system

and all travellers are equals.

What are the various initiatives to make the Pune Metro an attractive and affordable proposition for the user?

Integration of all modes of public transport so that a single ticketing system will be used for accessing any public transport is being worked out. Utilising

funding from increased FSI along route can be used to cross subsidise the fares during the operational period. Assigning handling of the Parking areas created to the Public transport organisation will also

help in creating an integrated facility.

Top 10 in terms of annual passenger rides

1. Moscow 3.2 billion

2. Tokyo 2.7 billion

3. Seoul 1.6 billion

4. Mexico City 1.3 billion

5. New York City 1.3 billion

6. Paris 1.2 billion

7. Osaka 957 million

8. London 886 million (4.6 billion miles)

9. Hong Kong 798 million

10. St. Petersburg 784 million

Top 5 in terms of number of stations

1. New York 468

2. Paris 368

3. London 270

4. Tokyo 217

5. Moscow 140

Earliest lines

• 1863 London Underground

• 1896 Budapest, Glasgow

• 1897 Boston

• 1900 Paris Metro

Shashikant Limaye           

I have been associated with PCERF right from its initiation. The concept for setting up PCERF was to have an apex organization with an Independent attitude and independent view about the construction industry. We

invited Senior people from sister organization to be the members. All the people work with an intention to “give” and not to “take”, which is our strength. Profit has never been the motive.

Organising Constro inculcates a sense of Teamwork amongst the organizers. Constro has always met its commitment to the exhibitors and tried its best to give maximum facilities to the exhibitors.

Many new products like RMC, Tremix etc. have been launched at Constro.

A sound financial footing and a loyal customer base is the strength of Constro. Constro has been visited by stalwarts like Shri. Pranab Mukherjee, Shri. S. L. Kirloskar and Shri. Sharad Pawar in the past.

Constro exhibitions have been based on novel and innovative themes like the golden quadrilateral Project, use of Bamboo , affordable housing etc. in the past.

The current theme of Pre Engineered Buildings & Innovative Electrical Solutions is apt as automation is the keyword today, quick work, less dependence on labour due to their in availability is the need of the hour.

A permanent venue will go a long way in providing better facilities to the exhibitors.

PCERF has taken press conference all over India and also visited other countries to expand the horizons of Constro and get manufactures from abroad to display their products and technology. We should strive to 

get key decision makers to visit the exhibition.

Younger generation should be involved in the organization and seniors should play the role of mentors.

It would be a good idea to have sister organization plan their seminars concurrently with the Constro exhibition.

Over the period Constro has become a movement and a mission. !!

“I got involved in PCERF at the behest of Late.

Shri. Narayanrao Kanetkar and Ramkumar Rathi. Narayanrao was a thorough contractor and had the ability to build Institutions for the benefit of the fraternity. The synergy between him and Shri. Ramkumar Rathi

with his professional and business acumen led to setting up of PCERF in which I got involved.

“Education thro’ Exhibition” was the motto behind Constro exhibition. Intent was to create competent people with a professional approach. Dissemination of knowledge was the goal. My role was as a

professional and to provide technical support to the organization.

Constro was a pioneering effort and gave a boost not only construction related exhibitions but exhibitions as a concept in general in Pune. Constro is a people oriented exhibition. Constro helped PCERF in bringing

the entire fraternity and become an umbrella organization for the Construction fraternity of Pune brining about many people into its fold . Constro is an event well appreciated by people and by exhibitors who seek

exposure for their new products. The success of PCERF & Constro is due to the whole hearted & selfless participation of all organisers.

It was my idea to take Constro out of Pune to increase exposure of the exhibition. We had a successful exhibition at Pragati Madian, New Delhi. PCERF and Constro got a National level presence and We were

able to build up rapport with a lot of people in Delhi, an association which continues to benefit the organisation.

We have always received excellent support from the authorities.

We need to use latest trends in communication and media to publicise about Constro. Building up a data bank of manufacturers and their products, involving new people will take Constro further. Enthusiastic

new people with fresh ideas should be encouraged in the organization process with the Seniors providing valuable support and words of wisdom.

Marketing is the most important aspect of an exhibition. Various means and ideas have to be thought about to widen the scope of the exhibition and to ensure greater footfalls.

Having a temporary set up is a put off for foreign participants who expect to have a ready set to put up their exhibits. A permanent setup will go a long way in getting more and more participants. This aspect needs to

be pursued with the government. Constro should strive to get visitors beyond Pune & Maharashtra and also get new exhibitors on board .

The changing image of Pune as a business Centre and an economic hub will surely help Constro in the future.”
                                                                                                   

A Note By-

Mr. V. V. Badwe