The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone and inaugurated various development projects in Pune, including flagged off metro trains marking the inauguration of completed sections of Pune Metro.
More Details:
- The Prime Minister underlined the seriousness of the government about the quality of life of the urban middle class. Recalling the start of the Metro work five years ago. The 24 km Metro network has already started functioning in this period.
- He emphasised the need to improve public transport infrastructure to improve the quality of life of people living in every city. Therefore, the metro network is being expanded, new flyovers are being constructed, and emphasis is being laid on reducing the number of traffic lights.
- He informed that before 2014, the country had only 250 km of metro network and most of the metro lines were limited to Delhi whereas today, the metro network has gone beyond 800 km and work is already underway for 1000 km of new metro lines in the country.
- Before 2014, the metro network was limited to only 5 cities in India whereas today, the metro is functional in 20 cities including Pune, Nagpur and Mumbai where the network is being expanded.
- The metro is becoming a new lifeline for the cities in modern India, he stressed the need of metro expansion to tackle climate change in a city like Pune.
- For the expansion of Railways, he informed that there has been a twelve-fold rise in expenditure when compared to before 2014. Various cities of Maharashtra are also connected to the economic hubs of neighbouring states.
- He gave examples of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail which will benefit both Maharashtra and Gujarat, the Delhi-Mumbai Economic Corridor which will connect Maharashtra with Madhya Pradesh and other states in North India.
- National Dedicated Freight Corridor which will transform the rail connectivity between Maharashtra and North India, and transmission line network to connect the state with Chhattisgarh, Telangana, other neighbouring states which will benefit the industries, oil and gas pipelines, Aurangabad Industrial City, Navi Mumbai Airport, and Shendra Bidkin Industrial Park. He said that such projects have the capacity to enthuse new energy into the economy of Maharashtra.
- Governor of Maharashtra, Shri Ramesh Bais, Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Shri Eknath Shinde, Deputy Chief Ministers of Maharashtra, Shri Devendra Fadnavis and Shri Ajit Pawar, and Ministers from Maharashtra Government were present on the occasion among others.
Background:
- The Prime Minister flagged off Metro trains marking inauguration of services on completed sections of the two corridors of Pune Metro, Phase-I. These sections are from Phugewadi station to Civil Court station and Garware College station to Ruby Hall Clinic station.
- The foundation stone of the project was also laid by the Prime Minister in 2016. The new sections will connect important places of Pune city like Shivaji Nagar, Civil Court, Pune Municipal Corporation office, Pune RTO and Pune Railway Station.
- The inauguration is an important step towards realising the vision of the Prime Minister to provide the citizens with modern and environment-friendly mass rapid urban transport systems across the country.
- The design of some of the metro stations on the route draws inspiration from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. The Chhatrapati Sambhaji Udyan Metro Station and Deccan Gymkhana metro stations have a unique design resembling the headgear worn by soldiers of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj – also known as ‘Mavala Pagadi’.
- The Shivaji Nagar underground Metro station has a distinctive design which reminds of the forts built by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
- A unique feature is that the Civil Court metro station is one of the deepest metro stations in the country, having the deepest point at 33.1 m. The station roof is made in such a manner that direct sunlight falls on the platform.
Source: PIB- Press Release | Images Credit: Pune Metro
