Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar Urges Immediate Action to Ease Traffic Congestion in Rajiv Gandhi IT Park Area

Pune – Deputy Chief Minister and Pune District Guardian Minister Ajit Pawar has directed officials to urgently implement all necessary measures to resolve the severe traffic congestion in the Rajiv Gandhi Information Technology Park (Hinjewadi IT Park) and surrounding areas including Maan, Mahalunge, and Sus. He emphasized the need for expediting ongoing metro construction, involving local representatives and residents while executing development and road projects to find long-term solutions to traffic woes.

These directives were issued by Pawar during a meeting held at the PMRDA (Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority) office in Akurdi. Present at the meeting were Deputy Speaker Anna Bansode, MLA Shankar Mandekar, Divisional Commissioner Dr. Chandrakant Pulkundwar, Pimpri-Chinchwad Police Commissioner Vinay Kumar Choubey, PMRDA Metropolitan Commissioner Yogesh Mhase, Additional Commissioner Deepak Singla, Pune Municipal Commissioner Naval Kishore Ram, Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Commissioner Shekhar Singh, District Collector Jitendra Dudi, Additional Police Commissioner Sarang Awad, Zilla Parishad CEO Gajanan Patil, MIDC Additional CEO Vijay Rathod, PWD Chief Engineer Atul Chavan, and NHAI Director Sanjay Kadam, among others.

Pawar stressed the importance of widening roads and completing land acquisition processes swiftly. He also ordered the immediate repair of potholes and the removal of encroachments along roads, canals, and streams to ensure natural water flow is not obstructed. He instructed police to take action against those hindering development work.

Highlighting the problems faced by citizens, Pawar called for coordinated efforts among all departments to ensure basic infrastructure like roads, drainage, and water supply. He specifically directed that no vehicles should be allowed to stop on either side of the roads or underpasses and that proper regulation of heavy vehicles must be implemented.

Pawar also emphasized integrating considerations such as roads, water supply, hospitals, schools, sewage treatment plants, waste management, traffic, and pollution into future urban planning, given the city’s rapid urbanization. Regarding the closure of the Kasarsai Canal, he assured that affected farmers’ land records would be updated, and that a solution would be found through discussions with state-level officials and ministers.

He noted the importance of focusing on infrastructure development in Pune’s growing urban and industrial areas, including Hinjewadi. Commending PMRDA’s efforts in removing encroachments that have eased traffic flow, he called on all departments to adopt a firm stance on encroachment removal for sustainable traffic solutions.

Site Inspection Prior to Meeting

Before the meeting, Deputy CM Pawar reviewed several development projects in the Hinjewadi region, including:

• Pune Metro Line 3 (Station No. 6, Croma, Hinjewadi, Lakshmi Chowk, Shinde Vasti, Marunji Road)
• Marunji Road to Kasarsai Canal, Wipro Circle Phase 2
• Dohler Company, Hinjewadi Phase 3
• Man village to Pandavnagar and planning roads leading to the PMRDA Akurdi office

He examined measures aimed at easing congestion and sought updates from officials on ongoing projects.

Input from Other Officials

MLA Shankar Mandekar offered suggestions for easing traffic. PMRDA Commissioner Dr. Mhase presented follow-up action taken since the July 13 meeting. He provided a presentation covering:

• Roads being developed by PMRDA in the Hinjewadi IT Park area
• Water reservations for the PMR region
• Pollution control projects for the Indrayani and Pavana rivers
• Sewerage treatment projects in various urbanized villages of the PMRDA jurisdiction

Senior officials from the NHAI, Public Works Department, MSEDCL, MIDC, Maharashtra Pollution Control Board, Pune IT City Metro Rail Ltd., and others also attended the meeting.