Pune's CMP update

The Rs 19,000-crore Comprehensive Mobility Plan (CMP) chalked out to resolve the city’s traffic problems will have to wait at least a month before it gets the final nod as the general body of Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) referred it to an all-party committee .The standing committee had approved the CMP, prepared by Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS), suggesting various transport projects worth Rs 19,000 crore. But the civic general body blocked it and asked for an in-depth study leading to the delay.
PMC’s general body immediately formed an all-party committee headed by Mayor Rajlaxmi Bhosale to study the pros and cons and suggest necessary steps to ensure a smooth rollout. The committee has been asked to table the report within a month.CMP has been designed keeping in mind traffic projections in the city by 2031. It is aimed at making available a viable means of public transport like Metro rail, monorail and BRTS at a distance of 500 metres from any home with “focus on moving people, not vehicles, safely in an economically viable way by emphasising sustainable modes of transport”.
Implementation of the projects will be in three phases. As per the original plan, the first phase should have been over by 2008, the second by 201, the third by 2020. The phase-wise break-up of the plan is Rs 5,910 crore, Rs 6,791 crore and Rs 6,600 crore.When the proposal came before the civic general body for approval on Thursday, some corporators asked why the civic standing committee had approved it in haste, without holding a discussion. “The plan, worth crores of rupees, involves a number of important measures for the city. We first need to study it, as there might be loopholes,” BJP leader Vikas Mathkari said.“A few corporators have already expressed their reservations. The civic administration should have held a special discussion. We will study the feasibility and incorporate the corporators’ views in the report,” said the Mayor.
Committee members include Ajit Apte and Dilip Barate of NCP, Arvind Shinde and Kamal Vyavahare of the Congress, Ujwal Keskar and Shivram Mengde of the BJP, Prithviraj Sutar and Shrikant Pujari of Shiv Sena and Rajendra Gorde and Rajendra Vagaskar of MNS.Asked about the estimated cost of the projects, Shrinivas Bonala, additional city engineer of PMC, cited a figure of “a little over Rs 19,000 crore”.