Good news for Pune residents! BRTS service on Swargate-Katraj route to resume from 2021. The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) is all set to resume the Bus Rapid Transit System service on the 5.4 kilometre long route from January 1 onwards, four years after it discontinued the pilot BRTS route from Swargate to Katraj on Pune-Satara road for the development of two flyovers and subways. The PMC took the Swargate-Katraj route as a pilot project, even as the Corporation faced various hurdles from its conception till its completion in 2006-2007, according to an IE report. While taking up the construction of two flyovers as well as two subways on the road, the PMC had decided to redesign the BRTS route at a cost of Rs 70 crore.
According to the report, this included road widening in order to create separate lanes for private vehicles, as the flow of traffic had increased on the stretch. In a bid to ensure that there are no problems in resuming the BRTS service on the stretch, the PMC has carried out a safety audit of the road. Mayor Murlidhar Mohol was quoted in the report saying that the redeveloping work of the BRTS route from Swargate to Katraj was taken up in the year 2016, but the work had gotten delayed due to technical problems. Now, the redeveloping work on this stretch will be finished in the next three days and directions have been given to resume the BRTS service on the Swargate-Katraj route from January 1, Mohol added.
Meanwhile, the Law Ministry has recently asked the states to establish special courts to settle infra project contract-related disputes. While citing the examples of the high courts of Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Allahabad, the ministry has suggested other high courts to allocate a special day to make the designated special courts as dedicated courts.