Pune truck terminus project scrapped

Just last month the Pune Municipal Corporation, in its general body meeting, had allotted funds from the civic budget for a truck terminus at Dhanakwadi. Now, in an about-turn, it has scrapped the project. The site for the terminus is likely to be used to rehabilitate evicted shopkeepers from Saras Baugh to set up their stalls. City Improvement Committee Chairman Vikas Mathkari is against the proposal to relocate the shopkeepers. He feels the proposed terminus is necessary, taking into account the flow of heavy traffic in the city. Speaking to Projectmonitor, he said that previously the original land, which was allocated for the truck terminus, is reduced to only 21,000 sq. metres due to encroachments. But if PMC allows the stalls on the vacant plot, there will hardly be any place for trucks to park. The proposal has been opposed by BJP-Shiv Sena corporators. BJP corporator Ujwal Keskar said that the move would encourage others to encroach on civic land. He added that PMC can rehabilitate the shopkeepers on government land and reserve the plot for the truck terminus. But at the meeting one of the corporators put out an idea that PMC can sell off the prime piece of land meant for the truck terminus and use the large chunk of money to develop the terminus on the city outskirts. Originally, four sites were chosen for the terminus, but the project got stuck in controversy when PMC failed to develop it. The proposal, approved by 34 votes to 27, was supported by the Congress and the NCP, but opposed by the BJP and the Shiv Sena.