State to set up panel to speed up tunnel road projects in city

Pune: State govt plans to set up a committee to fast-track key tunnel road projects in the city, including the ambitious 54km ‘Paatal Lok’ underground network to divert private vehicles from congested arterial roads, under which the longest 14km stretch will run from Yerawada to Katraj.Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis highlighted the importance of the project in supporting the city’s growing infrastructure needs during his visit to the city on Sunday. “Pune is emerging as a leading global capability centre. Its infrastructure must keep pace with this growth. Projects like Paatal Lok are being envisioned to address these requirements,” the CM said.The ‘Paatal Lok’ initiative proposes a network of underground expressways to divert traffic from the city’s surface roads, which currently account for only 9% of Pune’s total land area, officials from the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) said.Another planned tunnel aims to improve east-west connectivity across the city. Kasba Peth MLA Hemant Rasane said a committee comprising officials and experts from various govt bodies will oversee the projects. “This administrative committee will supervise the execution of both initiatives. It will also decide whether to integrate the projects or implement them separately,” he said.Urban planners and tunnelling experts said the proposal held promise. Uday Bhagare, a tunnelling expert and former Indian Railways official, said Pune’s geology made it well-suited for such infrastructure. “Given rising vehicular movement and the limitations of surface roads, underground transport must be explored. Pune has extensive basalt rock formations, which are favourable for tunnelling,” he said.Urban planner Ramchandra Gohad said advances in new-age tunnelling technologies could ease execution and help address Pune’s chronic traffic congestion. “The project could work in tandem with other initiatives, such as the proposed ring road,” he said.Environmentalists, however, remain doubtful. “Tunnelling is not a sustainable traffic management solution. While it may appear ambitious, it comes with several drawbacks. Vehicles emerging from tunnels will eventually converge at surface points, potentially creating bottlenecks and worsening congestion,” environmentalist Sumita Kale said, adding that such projects were highly capital-intensive.She argued that authorities should prioritise more pragmatic solutions, including improving Metro connectivity.Sandeep Potnis, director of the Centre of Excellence for Tunnelling and head of tunnel engineering at MIT, said tunnelling was well-suited for Pune from both environmental and traffic management perspectives. “The city’s topography, particularly its basalt rock formation, is favourable for building tunnels and can help reduce construction costs. While tunnelling may be more expensive than conventional road construction, it is essential for long-term traffic planning,” he said. Potnis also serves as an advisor on tunnelling to the ministry of road transport and highways.PMRDA officials said the project was still at the planning stage. A “pre-feasibility report has been prepared. It will be submitted to the Pune Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (Pumta) and state govt. Once approvals are granted, detailed plans will be shared publicly,” a senior official said.