New infrastructure created to in towns oft have to pass residential areas , to make use of the path to make way for better road connectivity. However , it is not often seen in a positive light by people living in the vicinity. The same fate is being pelted out to the proposed 123-km expressway that will link Talegaon on the Mumbai-Pune highway to Shirur, along the Pune-Ahmednagar highway and further up to Shikrapur, Nhavara and Chouphula, on the Pune-Solapur highway. In a way, it would be an easterly bypass for Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad, as it would divert heavy traffic and thus help reduce traffic congestion. Residents of Talegaon Dabhade, known for its developed and rapidly expanding industrial area, are up in arms against a proposed six-lane expressway project to be initiated by the state public works department.
The expressway is to be built at a cost of Rs 1,220 crore on a build operate and transfer (BOT) basis and involves the construction of four flyovers, five big bridges, 38 small bridges, 16 underground tunnels and 34 bus bays. Residents have demanded that the expressway be diverted from residential areas to industrial areas.
Political groups as well as citizens organisations, have formed the Talegaon Action Committee in order to take their demands to the state government. While residents are not against the expressway project per se, they have pointed out various reasons why the six-lane road should not pass through residential areas in Talegaon. An 8-km stretch of the proposed expressway, from Malwadi (on the Talegaon Chakan route) to Talegaon goes through a residential area, which has a number of housing colonies as well as schools, the committee said.
Office-bearers of the committee, including its president Suresh Choudhary, vice-president Ganesh Khandge, Dilip Rajguru and Ravindra Dabhade said that as per the government's policy, no expressway or six-lane road should pass through residential areas. "Our main demand is that the road be diverted from the Maharashtra
Industrial Development Corporation area, because over 80 per cent of the vehicles will be heavy vehicles, which anyway would either want to go to the companies in the industrial area or further, to Mumbai," said Khandge. Apart from the possibility of increasing accidents, the vehicles will also cause pollution, the committee has said.
The committee has also argued that for a six-lane project, the width of the road would have to be at least 60 metres. However, the government had earlier proposed only a 45-metre road. The committee has said that citizens will oppose any move to acquire more land for the project. It has also pointed out that if the road alignment is changed, it would be easier to link it to the proposed international airport near Chakan.
Incidentally, a bandh call given by the committee to oppose the road project going through a residential area, received an overwhelming response earlier this month. All shops and commercial establishments were closed for the entire day. The committee is hopeful that its demand will be considered by the state government.
Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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