Satara Road's BRTS lane swings between now on and now off

PUNE: Months after the Pune traffic police announced opening up of all four Bus Rapid Transit System routes in Pune for movement of all traffic, fresh barricades have come up on some sections of the Pune-Satara Road and construction of new bus stops along the Katraj-Swargate BRTS corridor has started.
Owner of a welding workshop outside Parvati Industrial Estate said, “The work between Market Yard junction and Panchami Hotel junction started 15 to 20 days ago.The earlier barricades were removed and new ones have been installed. The movement of traffic towards Katraj has increased manifold as the road has once again narrowed down after one side of the opened BRTS corridor was blocked.”

Two construction workers on the stretch said, “We have installed new railings on the Swargate to Katraj side right now. Work is going on along the entire 5 km stretch. New bus stops are also being made. Some are ready, like the one outside Hotel Panchami. The ones under construction will have the same design. After this, the barricade on the other side of the corridor will be finalized.”

Local resident Purva Sankhla said over the last decade, they have seen the BRTS fail as a project. Some new bus stops were created a few months ago but the work was stalled. The corridor was opened for movement of all vehicles and barricades were removed. Now, parts of the corridor have been blocked and work has commenced, she added.
“There is no clarity on what is going on. What if the plan for the extension of the Metro is cleared and the newly constructed corridor has to be blocked again or brought down to accommodate construction of the Metro? Is there a greater inclusive plan for an integrated transport system? This looks like nothing but a waste of money,” she said.
Secretary of PMP Pravasi Manch, Sanjay Shitole, said, “The BRTS is a good concept and will work if planned and executed in a flawless manner. As of now, there are no safety measures along the corridors. The authorities are repeating the same mistakes while redoing the corridor. The new bus stops, for example, have no visibility to see the oncoming bus, just the like old ones. The new work is adding cosmetic appeal and is a waste of money.”
Shitole also questioned the need for a metro along the same route as the BRTS. “Instead of wasting crores on an underground metro, alternatives like smaller standing buses along the Katraj-Swargate stretch would be cheaper and more efficient,” he explained.
Programme director of Parisar, Ranjit Gadgil said that the civic body needs an integrated BRTS and Metro plan. “There has been ad-hoc completion and stoppage of BRTS work. There is no clarity on when and how the BRTS corridor mentioned in the Development Plan (DP) will be made. We have raised this issue with the old and present municipal commissioner but have not heard from them. A meeting between the Metro officials and PMC road department needs to be held to work out a plan for an integrated transit system rather than each body functioning individually. Overlaps of metro and BRTS will not be beneficial for anybody,” Gadgil explained.
BRTS manager, Anant Waghmare said the work on the Satara Road corridor has been going on for a while now.
“We are making 10 bus stops along the stretch and the corridor will resemble the Alandi Road one. We have also considered the probable metro work along this stretch. Ahmednagar Road and parts of Pimpri-Chinchwad have the metro running through the BRTS corridor but there have been no hindrances. The Satara Road corridor will also work in a similar fashion,” he said.