Pune: PMC Plans Sutardara-Pashan Underground Tunnel To Ease Traffic Congestion

The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) is set to appoint a consultant to draft a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for an underground tunnel connecting Sutardara in Kothrud with Pashan. This initiative aims to alleviate traffic congestion on the Kothrud-Pashan corridor, especially around Senapati Bapat Road and Anand Rishiji Chowk. Initially, the plan included a larger tunnel network linking Sutardara-Pashan-Panchvati and Patrakar Nagar-Panchvati, but it has been revised, with the Patrakar Nagar-Panchvati section removed and the focus narrowed to the Sutardara-Pashan stretch.

This change came after the earlier alignment faced opposition due to concerns about tree cutting and excavating a large portion of the hill near Panchvati. The revised alignment plans to bring the tunnel closer to Loyola School, from which a new road is proposed to connect it with Pashan Road. In response to the growing urbanization and the increasing number of vehicles, PMC has been exploring underground routes to manage the expanding road network.

The civic administration is working on multiple major tunnel and road projects, such as those connecting Bhosari and Undri, Bhugaon and Rajaram Bridge, Hingne and Taljai, and the long-pending High Capacity Mass Transit Route (HCMTR) project. However, the tunnel proposed between Pashan, Patrakar Nagar, and Senapati Bapat Road is no longer part of the current plan due to its significant tree cover and the need for extensive hill cutting, which is also part of the HCMTR corridor.

Dinkar Gojare, Chief Engineer of PMC's Project Department, stated that a consultant should be appointed within the next month to prepare the DPR for the Kothrud-Pashan tunnel, with the report expected to be submitted to the civic administration around January or February. This project is part of PMC's broader strategy to create alternative road corridors and reduce congestion in key areas of western Pune.