On March 6, 2022, the Prime Minister (PM) of India Narendra Modi visited Pune, Maharashtra for the inauguration of the following developmental projects.
Unveiling of statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj:
Firstly, he unveiled the grand statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj at Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC).
- The seated statue made of gun metal is 9.5 feet tall and weight 1.85 tons (1850 Kg).
Pune Metro Inaugurated:
The PM inaugurated 12 km stretch of the total 33.1 km Pune Metro Rail Project. The remaining ~21 km will become operational by March 2023. After the inauguration following stretches were opened today:
- Vanaz- Garware College (5 km elevated stretch with 5 stations)
- PCMC- Phugewadi stretch (7 km elevated stretch with 5 stations)
The first ticket was bought by the PM from Garware station to Anand Nagar.
Pune Metro is the first project in the country having Aluminum body coaches, indigenously manufactured under Make in India policy of GoI thus becoming the Lightest Metro Coaches in India.
Corridors of Pune Metro Rail Project:
i.North-South Corridor from PCMC to Swargate (Purple Line): This Corridor passes through the industrial area of Pimpri-Chinchwad and further into old Peth areas of the Pune city.
- The Length of this corridor is 17.4 km with 14 stations.
- Due to extremely congested Shivaji Nagar and Old Peth areas with very narrow roads in most of the areas, 6 Km section from Range Hills to Swargate is underground (UG). This UG section will be developed though NATM (New Austrian Tunneling Method) Technology.
ii.East-West Corridor from Vanaz to Ramwadi (Aqua Line): It is fully elevated Corridor from Vanaz Depot in east and passes through the densely populated residential areas of Pune city.
- There are total 16 nos. of Metro Stations and total length of this corridor is 15.7 Kms.
About Pune Metro Rail Project:
It was sanctioned by Government of India in 2016 and its Foundation Stone was laid by the PM on December 26, 2016. It focuses on improving urban mobility in Pune Metropolitan area. It is being implemented by Maharashta Metro Rail Corporation (MAHA-METRO) a 50:50 JV (Joint Venture) of GoI (Government of India) and GoM (Government of Maharshtra). Project completion cost of Rs 11,420 Crore is being funded by:
- GoI & GoM- Equity and Subordinate debt (50:50) – Rs 1,954.00 Crore each
- Grant from GoM Entities– Rs 28.50 Crore
- GoM Grant for land and taxes– Rs 302.20 Crore
- Loan from European Investment Bank (EIB), Luxembourg – Rs 4,140.71 Crore (Euro 600 million)
- Loan from AFD (Agence française de développement), France – Rs 1,690.79 Crore (Euro 245 million)
- SD for Land including R&R and State Taxes from ULB (Urban Local Bodies)– Rs 1,210.80 Crore
- IDC to be borne by GOM & ULBs – Rs 139.00 Crore
Key Features:
i.Maha Metro has designed Open loop chip based Contactless Smart Card named ‘EK PUNE” card in compliance with the NCMC (National Common Mobility Card) mandate of GoI.
- It would result in One card for Metro, Buses, Feeders, Parking, Utility and other Retail payment.
ii.Pune Metro has made provision for installation of 11.19 MWp (Mega-Watt Peak) Solar power generation on rooftop of the elevated stations and Depots. The energy generated will be used in stations and in traction power for running of trains.
- This will result in energy cost savings of Rs 20 crores per annum.
- Also, approx. 25,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions will be prevented.
iii.Maha Metro also signed MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) for installation of Anaerobic Biodigester Technology for 100 % Wastewater Management.
- This will result in Zero discharge in Municipal sewerage system for all stations of Pune Metro.
iv.Maha-Metro, through international competitive bidding awarded contract for supply of 102 modern aluminum bodied metro coaches for Pune Metro project to M/s. Titagarh Firema, an Italian subsidiary of M/s Titagarh, a Kolkata based Indian company in the field of railway coaches and wagons.
- This is the first time that new generation Aluminum body coaches, that are lighter, more energy efficient and have better aesthetic than steel coaches will be manufactured in the country.
- Apart from 33.1 KM being implemented by Maha Metro, another elevated line of 23.3 km with 23 stations from Shivaji Nagar to Hinjewadi is currently being implemented by Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority on PPP basis. The concessionaire contract for the same has been awarded to Tata-Siemens JV and work for the same has started in January 2022.
Mula-Mutha River Rejuvenation Project:
The PM also laid the foundation stone of Rejuvenation And Pollution Abatement of Mula-Mutha River projects under the ambitious National River Conservation Plan (NRCP) set up by the Central Government. It is being funded by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
- The Project will be implemented on the concept of “One City One Operator” at a cost of over Rs 1470 crore, which includes the construction cost and operation and maintenance for 15 years period.
- It is likely to be completed in approximately 3 years.
Key Points:
i.Rejuvenation of Mula-Mutha river will be done along 9 Km stretch of the river. The projects involve works such as river edge protection, interceptor sewage network, public amenities, boating activity etc.
ii.A total of 11 sewage treatment plants will be constructed under the project, with a combined capacity of around 400 MLD (million litres per day) with a 55 km long Sewage carrier pipeline. The capacity of each sewage treatment plant is 396 million MLD.
iii.PMC will also implement River Front Development project on the lines of Sabarmati River front development carried out in Ahmedabad.
Other Inaugurations:
i.PM Modi dedicated a fleet of 150 Electric Buses in Pune to boost green urban mobility.
ii.An Electric Bus Depot, equipped with charging station at Baner was also inaugurated.
iii.PM also e- inaugurated the R K Laxman Art Gallery Museum located at Balewadi in Pune. The Gallery showcases cartoons drawn by the legendary cartoonist R K Laxman.
- The main attraction is a miniature model based on the village of Malgudi of the ‘Malgudi Days’ fame.
iv.The PM participated in the Golden Jubilee celebration of Symbiosis Institutions and inaugurated the integrated health complex ‘Symbiosis Arogya Dham’.
- It is spread over 70 acres of land at the Symbiosis International (Deemed University) Campus at Lavale, Pune consisting of the Symbiosis Medical College for Women which is the first fully residential medical college for girls in the state of Maharashtra.
- The 900 bedded Symbiosis University Hospital & Research Centre (SUHRC) is attached to this medical college.
It should be noted that Symbiosis has adopted 23 villages around the University Campus to provide quality healthcare through the ‘Mobile Medical Van’ and digital literacy through the Symbiosis Rural Digital Literacy Lab’. Symbiosis was established by Dr. S B Mujumdar.
Recent Related News:
i.On December 4, 2021, PM Narendra Modi inaugurated 7 projects worth Rs 2,573 crore and laid the foundation stone of 11 projects worth Rs 15,728 crore in Dehradun, Uttarakhand (Cumulatively the projects worth around Rs 18,000 crore).
ii.In December 2021, PM Narendra Modi virtually inaugurated a thought leadership forum on FinTech, ‘InFinity Forum’. The event was hosted by International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA), under the aegis of the Government of India in collaboration with GIFT City and Bloomberg on December 3 and 4, 2021.
About Maharashtra:
Capital– Mumbai (Financial capital of India)
Chief Minister– Uddhav Thackeray
Airports – Shirdi Airport, Kolhapur Airport , Gandhinagar Airport
