Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has dismantled a 300-meter segment of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) route between Viman Nagar Chowk and Somnath Nagar Chowk on Nagar Road.
The removal, carried out using JCB machines at night, follows the earlier elimination of the BRT route from Yerawada to Viman Nagar Chowk ten months ago. This leaves only three kilometers of the original eight-kilometer BRT route operational on Nagar Road.
PMC commissioned a report from Gokhale Institute. Following the report’s recommendations, the BRT route from Yerawada to Viman Nagar Chowk was removed in December 2023.
Local MLA Sunil Tingre, along with other political representatives, then pushed for the removal of the additional 300-meter stretch between Viman Nagar Chowk and Somnath Nagar Phata, which was finally removed after obtaining a report from the traffic police.
MLA Sunil Tingre expressed his satisfaction with the decision, stating, "I had raised the issue in both the legislative assembly and with PMC, urging them to remove the BRT to ease traffic congestion.
After the Gokhale Institute's report, we followed up, and the BRT was removed. I will continue to pursue the removal of the remaining BRT sections."
However, not all commuters are pleased with the decision. Some, like Chhaya Lavande, a bus commuter from Khandve Nagar, said, "The BRT made travel faster. Buses need a separate lane, and now, with the BRT gone, even buses will get stuck in traffic."
RTI activist Qaneez Sukhrani said, "Accidents were happening because of the defective BRT system, and I had been consistently following up for its removal. The project was well-intentioned but poorly executed."
