Pune mandals seek timely completion of metro for Ganesh festival

Pune city based Ganesh mandals, particularly those in the Mandai area, are demanding that the Maharashtra Metro Railway Corporation Limited (Maha Metro) accelerate the progress and complete the metro construction before this year's Ganesh festival. The Akhil Mandai Ganesh Utsav Mandal recently sent a letter to Maha-Metro director Atul Gadgil, emphasising the need for timely completion. The letter highlighted that the Ganesh procession begins at the Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak statue in Mandai. Although Maha-Metro has commenced underground work at the Tilak statue and Baba Genu Chowk, the mandals have observed a recent halt in progress. They insist that the work should resume promptly and be finished before the Ganesh festival.

According to Maha-Metro officials, two out of the five underground metro stations on the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) to Swargate route, namely Civil Court and Shivajinagar, are nearing completion. However, work is still ongoing at the Budhwar Peth, Mandai, and Swargate metro stations. Maha Metro is constructing two shifts that will serve as entry and exit points for the Mandai station. Hemant Sonawane, the public relations officer of Maha-Metro, emphasised the priority of completing the underground Mandai metro station on the PCMC to Swargate route. Despite a delayed land acquisition in May 2021, significant progress has been made, and efforts are being made to finish the station work as soon as possible.

Most of the elevated metro stations, including Shivajinagar and Civil Court, have been completed, allowing Maha-Metro to commence metro services on the PCMC to Civil Court and Vanaz to Civil Court stretches in the near future. However, completion of the Budhwar Peth, Mandai, and Swargate underground metro stations will require additional time.