After the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) failed to construct the 200-metre stretch of the 1,200-metre-long Baner-Pashan link road despite the court directions in the past, the Bombay High Court has now ordered the acquisition of land for the road within next two months and the PMC to complete the construction in four months after land acquisition.
In 2021, the petitioner had sought court direction to complete the incomplete portion of road, 200 meters of 1.2 km long 36-meter-wide Baner Pashan Link Road in a time-bound manner.
In August 2023, the Court had directed the PMC to acquire land required to complete the Baner-Pashan link road and submit a timeline both for the land acquisition and the construction of the remaining 200-metre stretch. However, the PMC could not do so till July last year and was pulled up for delaying the work of the incomplete road seeking an affidavit on it. The court had directed the PMC to take appropriate steps and complete the construction of 200 meters of road within the shortest possible time.
Hearing a petition filed by Baner-Pashan Link Road Welfare Trust, the two-judge high court bench led by Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice M S Karnik directed the District Magistrate to complete the process of acquisition of the land within two months from and hand over the possession of the land to the PMC.
“The PMC should complete the construction of the road within a period of four months from the date of possession of the land,” said the bench on Wednesday.
According to petitioners, the link road is crucial for connectivity among Baner, Balewadi, and Pashan and will impact over 2,50,000 residents. The road was sanctioned in 1992 and the construction began in 2014 but two stretches of the road were not constructed, keeping the road unused for long.
Representing the petitioner, Advocate Satya Muley informed the Court that the PMC has been giving one or the other excuse for non-completion of the road. “With the final order coming with clear and strong directives, the residents of the region can now expect the construction of roads to complete by Diwali this year. It is going to be a tremendous relief for the traffic congestion and dangerous vehicle and risky pedestrian movement on the existing narrow road. I thank the residents of Baner Pashan area for their trust in Judiciary,” he said.
