Pune: With Roads Beyond Capacity In Pimpri-Chinchwad, the ₹32,000 Crore ‘Patal-Lok’ Tunnel Plan Gains Momentum

Pimpri-Chinchwad: Due to the Pimpri-Chinchwad city’s expanding boundaries and the massive increase in the number of vehicles, the burden on the roads has reached a breaking point. As a result, a trial to resolve traffic congestion through an underground solution has begun.

Major changes are being made to the plan for this Rs 32,000 crore tunnel project. The Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) has directed the consultancy firm ‘Monarch’ to conduct a detailed study of six to seven different alignments.

A review meeting of the Pune Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (PUMTA) was recently held under the chairmanship of Divisional Commissioner Chandrakant Pulkundwar. During this meeting, significant discussions took place regarding the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of this mega-project. Initially, the project was drafted as a 54-kilometre north-south corridor from Yerawada to Katraj.

However, orders have now been issued to explore changing the starting and ending points, as well as checking if busy east-west roads in the city can be integrated into the network. The DPR will not be finalised until the project’s feasibility and the ratings of various options are made clear. PMRDA has taken the stance that the project must be truly beneficial for the citizens.

During the PUMTA meeting, Pune Divisional Commissioner Chandrakant Pulkundwar clarified that a thorough study of citizens’ travel patterns and directions is mandatory before finalising any route. Furthermore, Shravan Hardikar, Managing Director of Maha Metro and also the Commissioner in charge of the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), emphasised the need to coordinate the project’s exit points with the city’s parking policy to ensure that traffic emerging from the tunnels does not create new bottlenecks.

This is an extremely ambitious project of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. As Pune’s roads have exceeded their capacity, he proposed the ‘Patal-lok’ (underground) concept. He has entrusted the responsibility of this project to PMRDA Metropolitan Commissioner Dr Yogesh Mhase. The actual cost of the project, fundraising, and the deadline for completion will only be clarified after the revised ‘Pre-Feasibility Report’ is submitted.