Mumbai, Feb 12 (PTI) Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Wednesday instructed Maha Metro and the State Road Transport Corporation to ensure timely reconstruction of the Shivajinagar bus terminus in Pune city.
Pawar said the project, being implemented under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model, is crucial to improve Pune’s transportation network .
He sought immediate submission of a proposal for a 99-year agreement to attract better developers for PPP projects.
A review meeting regarding the ongoing reconstruction of the Shivajinagar bus terminus was held under the chairmanship of Pawar, who is also the finance minister, at Mantralaya (state secretariat).
The terminus was temporarily shifted from Shivajinagar to Wakdewadi off the Pune-Mumbai highway to facilitate metro rail work. While the metro work has been completed at Shivajinagar, the bus terminus has still not come up at its original spot in the busy locality.
The reconstruction of the Shivajinagar bus station will be a milestone for Pune’s public transportation system, Pawar maintained.
He instructed Maha Metro, which operates the Pune metro, and Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) to coordinate to expedite the project’s completion.
To ensure the project is completed within the stipulated timeline, the Pune district guardian minister emphasized on finalising necessary agreements immediately to enable the ground-breaking ceremony to be conducted by Maharashtra Day (May 1).
To simplify the financial investment, the project will be executed under the PPP model, utilizing the floor space index (a key metric that determines maximum construction area for a plot of land) of the Shivajinagar bus station area.
Maha Metro will act as the implementing agency, and a new memorandum of understanding will be signed between the agency and MSRTC, said the deputy CM.
He also said a state-of-the-art bus terminus will come up at Swargate, another busy locality in Pune city.
Timely completion of Shivajinagar and Swargate bus station development projects will go a long way in improving Pune’s transport infrastructure, Pawar averred. PTI MR RSY
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.