Pune: Dagdusheth Temple Expansion Moves Ahead As Police Issue NOC For New Complex

Pune: The proposed expansion of the Shrimant Dagdusheth Halwai Ganpati Temple has moved a step ahead after Pune Police issued an NOC for shifting the Faraskhana and Vishrambaug police station premises. However, the stations will be shifted only after a new, fully equipped police complex is ready.

Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar sent the NOC to the state Home Department on August 10. He made it clear that the existing premises will continue to function until the replacement facility is completed and all police units are shifted.

“We have sent the NOC to the Home Department. The existing premises will be handed over to the temple trust only after a new police complex is constructed and all police offices are shifted,” Kumar said.

Under the proposal, a municipal plot at Budhwar Peth will be transferred to the police department for construction of an integrated complex. The new facility will accommodate the Faraskhana and Vishrambaug police stations, a traffic outpost and senior police offices currently operating from the existing premises.

The cost of the new complex will be borne either by the temple trust or the Home Department. The temple trust will also have to pay the government for the existing land before it is transferred.

Kasba BJP MLA and Shrimant Dagdusheth Halwai Ganpati Trust joint secretary Hemant Rasane said the trust is ready to construct the new police complex if permitted by the government. He said the existing building is decades old and no longer meets the needs of a rapidly growing city.

The development comes after the Dagdusheth temple received Class A tourism status from the state government in May, making it eligible for government support for infrastructure and development.

For now, there will be no immediate shifting of the police stations. The next steps depend on the government finalising the new complex, its funding and the transfer of land.