Special officer to oversee varsity chowk flyover work

Pune: Close on the heels of the city traffic police introducing vehicular diversions at the Savitribai Phule Pune University Chowk (SPPU) to facilitate construction of a double-decker flyover, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has appointed a coordinating officer to provide necessary assistance for the project.

The project is being executed by the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA). The PMC will support in shifting of utilities like water pipeline valves, streetlight poles in the area, and acquisition of required land for the project.

Additional municipal commissioner Kunal Khemnar, who will be the PMC’s coordinating officer for the project, said, “The civic body’s role will be to provide maximum assistance in execution of the project. The PMC’s many departments, such as water supply, electrical, land and estate will be involved in technical support and granting of necessary permissions or NOCs for the work. We will see that all these departments work in coordination so that the project does not face any hurdles because of delay in getting required permissions.”

The project is a part of the Hinjewadi-Shivajinagar Metro line. The actual civil work is expected to begin in the next few days.

Commuters who travel through the chowk daily want the authorities to complete the work at the earliest. Rahul Hegde, a resident of Aundh Baner road, said that the administration should also clear the bottleneck on Senapati Bapat road.

Vijay Shah, another commuter, said that potholes and uneven road surface slow down vehicular movement at SPPU chowk.