Pune: While the Pune Municipal Corporation's (PMC) Standing Committee has approved the proposal for compulsory land acquisition for the much-discussed Katraj-Kondhwa road widening project, the civic body's Road Department has prioritized acquiring land through negotiation. As part of this approach, meetings with property owners have already commenced.

The Katraj-Kondhwa road widening project has been delayed for several years. To proceed with the widening, land acquisition is essential, and the PMC has prepared a list of the required landowners.

The PMC has allocated a special budget of ₹140 crores for this purpose, with funds included in the current fiscal year's budget. The Standing Committee has approved the initiation of the acquisition process, and ₹71 crores will be provided to the district administration for the same.

The total cost of land acquisition for the Katraj-Kondhwa road is estimated to be ₹700 crores. Initially, the road width was proposed to be 84 meters, but it has now been reduced to 50 meters, leading to a reduction in the required land acquisition and a revised estimated cost of ₹277 crores.

Project-affected landowners are demanding compensation in cash, which will result in a significant financial burden on the PMC.

In light of this, the PMC has decided to pursue a policy of negotiated land acquisition, offering compensation through Floor Space Index (FSI) or Transferable Development Rights (TDR) instead of cash. So far, three meetings have been held with the landowners.

Despite the commencement of the land acquisition process by the PMC, several technical issues need to be addressed, which may cause delays and increase costs.

Although the road width has been reduced, it will still feature six lanes, along with proposed service roads on both sides. Over the past five years, only 28% of the work has been completed.

The project requires a total of 2,88,000 square meters of land, some of which has already been acquired by the PMC.