After Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated two new stretches of the Pune Metro — one of them being the Pimpri to Shivajinagar stretch, state Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar announced on Friday that the Metro will soon operate till Katraj, a long-pending demand of residents of Pimpri-Chinchwad.
The announcement came during a meeting of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) held at Professor Ramkrishna More auditorium in Chinchwad on Friday. When a party worker sought to know from Ajit Pawar as to when will the Pune Metro run up to Katraj, the Deputy Chief Minister said the Metro service will not only be extended till Katraj, but also promised contribution from the state government in his capacity as the Finance Minister.
“For the Nigdi to Katraj Metro service, the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) will provide its contribution. On behalf of the state government, I, as Finance Minister, want to declare that we are ready to make our contribution. As regards the Centre’s share, I will personally go to the Prime Minister and the Home Minister and seek their help. The Pune Metro will run from Nigdi right up to Katraj…,” said Pawar.
The Deputy Chief Minister said that the Metro stretch from Nigdi to Katraj will be a mixed one. “Wherever possible, it will be an elevated one and where required, we will make it underground,” he said.
When the Pune Metro was being planned from Pimpri to Swargate, citizens and activists had demanded that it should run from Nigdi to Katraj as hundreds of commuters from the industrial city daily travel to Pune city. ”Even when the Metro work started five years ago, citizens staged protests and demonstrations for starting the Metro from Nigdi to Kajtraj,” said Congress leader Rajendra Shelkhe.
