Pune Metro Project - debrief

Here’s apprising you of the Rs.10,000 crore Pune Metro project, of which the General Body of the PMC is all set to pass a part of it for implementation on June 5 – that is, the least priority corridor called the Vanaz-Ramwadi Corridor comprising about 15 kms (Which the DPR itself says will not reach minimum passenger capacity even in 2031).

Following are the points

May 2006: Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar says he will look into a metro rail project for Pune, provided the Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal corporations submitted a combined plan.

November 2006 : A proposal is tabled before the PMC’s standing committee to get a detailed project report from the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Limited (DMRC) to implement the metro.

March 2007: DMRC submits the draft of the DPR to the PMC. In fact, the first draft of the DPR was shown to the railway engineering experts headed by Mr Vijay Rane, who analyse it and submit their comments and suggestions. The Mayor requests that the draft be sent for a review by the DMRC along with points raised by the railway engineering experts. However, no suggestions were incorporated by the DMRC.

July 2009: DMRC submits a final draft for the metro rail DPR (Detailed Project Report) to the PMC. When the DMRC team came to Pune on July 6 to submit the DPR, the railway engineering experts were called for the DMRC presentation and were requested to give their presentation after DMRC. However, immediately after the DMRC presentation the meet was suddenly declared as over and the experts were not allowed to show their presentation, which highlighted the need for some changes in the `flawed’ DMRC report.

The DPR of the Rs.10,000 crore Project, the biggest ever for Pune, is not made public, not even to the 144 corporators, the elected representatives of the 35 odd lakh population. Moreover, it is in English although two-third of the corporators cannot read English. The Marathi version has not yet been made – only after Raj Thackeray made a request 10 days back, a summary booklet has been made which glorifies the Pune Metro project. Hence, majority of the corporators still do not have a clue of the contents of the project.

The 435 page report is superficial, does not adhere to the Central Government guidelines of the in-depth content of a DPR for such mass transport systems (the Central Govt order dated Nov 11,2006). In sharp contrast, the Thane Metro Project DPR made way back in 2002 comprises seven fat volumes and comprises all aspects including the integrated traffic and transport plan and gives several options.

The Metro Rail Project has not been envisioned in Pune’s Development Plan of 1987 thus denying citizens the right to check the route of the Metro plan and give their suggestions and objections. No amendment has also been sought in the DP to include this Metro Rail. Hence, the DPR is itself illegal.

Since August 2009: Besides railway engineering experts, town planning experts, architects and urban designers have been raising questions against the wishy-washy DPR for which PMC paid the DMRC Rs.2 crore. They questioned the funding pattern, part of which is to increase the FSI to 4 for a 500m area on either sides of the 31.5 km proposed route. This would mean heavy load on the infrastructure, as, at this rate, 20 lakh more people could be accommodated in this concrete jungle along the metro corridor. All fell on deaf ears

August 2009: Chief minister Ashok Chavan assures funding for the project.

December 2009: The Pune Metro Sahakarya Samiti (PMSS), a citizens’ forum comprising transport experts, writes to finance minister Pranab Mukherjee asking him to look into the ‘technology scam’ in the Pune metro project.

January 20, 2010: The standing committee of the PMC approves the DPR, although none of the members had even seen what the DPR looks like.

January 30, 2010: The General Body of the PMC comprising 144 corporators approves the proposal. (In a `Metro Mahacharcha’ which the Pune Metro JAgruti Abhiyaan (PMJA) organised on May 17,2010, wherein political leaders form all political parties came on one platform to interact with citizens, they confessed that 99 per cent of them had not read the DPR. When one sole corporator asked for the copy, the Municipal Commissioner said that he forgot to attach it.)

All parties including the NCP, Congress, BJP, Shiv Sena and MNS support the proposal during this General Body meeting.

Corridor I which is the high density corridor and runs through the twin cities of Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad is approved However, the PCMC withdraws from the Metro project, I believe over the funding issue in which the local bodies were to give 10 per cent of the project expenditure from their pockets (Each was to share 5 per cent). PCMC refuses to give 5 per cent and withdraws and asks the DMRC to make an independent DPR for the PCMC. The state government rejects the proposal sent by the General Body and asks the PMC to explain how it would get the 10 per cent funds now that the PCMC has backed out and then send it back for approval. (in the funding pattern shown in the DPR, PMC will contribute 10 per cent, while the state and the Centre will contribute 20 per cent each. The remaining 50 per cent will be sourced from private players). It is interesting to note that a few weeks back the planning commission has stated that the centre would not fund for metro projects.

February 2010: The metro proposal finds no mention in Pranab Mukherjee’s Budget speech. Allocations are made for the Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata and Chennai metro projects.

March 2010: The metro proposal finds no mention in the PMC budget of 2010-2011

March 2010 : With PCMC ditching it at the last moment, the standing committee of the PMC resolves hurriedly to opt for the metro railway on the least priority corridor which is the proposed 14.925 km corridor from Vanaz to Ramwadi. The Pune Technical Coalition (PTC), a conglomeration of architects, engineers, town planners, builders demands that the shortcomings be addressed. All falls on deaf ears

April 2010: The PMC standing committee decides that a special purpose vehicle be formed to implement the project. Kuldeep Singh, a consultant for the Delhi and Bangalore projects, says Pune’s project is “devoid of options and needs an intelligent appraisal”.

April 17,2010: The Pune Metro Jagruti Abhiyaan (PMJA) is formed. This is because the politicians and the civic administration showed no inclination to keep the public informed about the various physical, social, economical and psychological impacts the elevated corridor along congested prime arterial roads is going to have on citizens. They also saw presentations done by PTCC and yet did not make any moves to consider their suggestions/recommendations. In order to make the campaign comprehensive and formidable - PMJA, PTCC (comprising 21 organisations of railway and civil engineers, town planners, urban designers, architects) and Janwani (NGO of the Mahratta Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture (MCCIA) have teamed up together to make public presentations in neighbourhoods, organisations and different communities. We decided that information dissemination to Puneites will ensure that they know the issue and then make an informed opinion. We took upon us, what the PMC and the coroporators should have done at the outset. Let’s call it PMJA hereafter while referring to our combined efforts in this campaign. We also launched a citizen signature campaign for which we got a good response.

May 2, 2010: PMJA organizes a protest rally along Jangli Maharaj Road – over 300 citizens including celebrities attend it.

May 19, 2010: PMJA organizes the citizen gate meeting at the PMC gate – for this is the day when the Special General Body was to give approval to the 10 per cent funding pattern. Nearly 200 citizens joined the gate meeting and all of us sat in the citizen gallery and witnessed the General Body meeting. Opposition parties demanded more time on the backdrop of citizens having raised doubts regarding the proposal. The ruling NCP-Congress reluctantly did so and declared the next special GB on June 5.

What we are objecting to in the DMRC report:

• The elected representatives have passed it blindly. How can a Rs.10,000 crore project be passed by the 144 corporators without even reading it?
• The DMRC report gives no options and does not take other existing public transport into consideration. Meaning, there is no integrated traffic and transport plan
• An elevated corridor through the most congested arterial roads has been blindly accepted. The underground option has not been worked out in detail though the DMRC report says `underground metro’ is preferred for Pune but would be 2.5 times more expensive (no detailing has been done to arrive at this cost, although it could have considering that it has made both in Delhi and Kolkata example is already there. Experts including the IIT report have suggested ways by which an underground metro could cost almost the same as an elevated one but the PMC and the DMRC are refusing to even give an ear to this)
• The DPR mentions the provision of 4 FSI along the metro corridor which means creation of multi-storeyed concrete jungle along the route creating space for 25 lakh more people
• According to experts land acquisition would be around 5 lakh sq feet. The metro runs through thick residential and commercial neighbourhoods and it would require acquiring (meaning demolishing) many private properties but citizens along that corridor have not at all been informed. Many still have the perception that metro is beautiful and an underground one is coming for their city
• The public has not been informed about the details of the corridor
• Questions and doubts addressed by the technical experts and citizens are not being heard by the civic chief and political leaders
• Why is the least priority corridor chosen? There are no answers given.
• We are asking for `Jansunwai’ at a big auditorium like the Bal Gandharva but there has been no response
• We are asking for dissemination of information through boards in public chowks and advertisement through newspapers and all other public form of information dissemination to tell the citizens along that corridor for they would be getting in terms of disruption of their day to day lives for several years, demolition of properties and all other details. There has been no response.\
• It is being alleged that we are just a handful of citizens who are protesting to put Pune 50 years back and the common man is not taking objections. How will the common man object if he is not informed? All our presentations have had great public response. At Kothrud, 600 odd citizens turned out and were shocked to know the details

Democracy is being throttled by the power of the chair and money.

For further details of the Pune Metro pl visit: www.intelligentpune.org – on the home page itself, on the left hand side top, there are English and Marathis presentations

Cheers and warm rgds,

co-convener PMJA

Pune Metro - PMJA vs PMC

For the last few years, the Pune Metro and the Pune International airport plans had come be the forever unreal grape-wine of the city. Recent developments seemed to have fast tracked the Pune Metro progress. And as true for any government body, PMC is no different; thus the sudden fast tracking is bound to raise eye brows. These government babu's never push any plan unless they are personally benefited from it. Today the PMC is zealously trying to pass the plan.

Why? The entire Pune Metro Project is touted at Rs. 10,000 Crores. Aaa ha, that' sounds like reason enough to expedite the passing of the project.

PMJA (Pune Metro Jagruti Abhiyaan) is objecting the passing of this plan for various valid reasons. See details here.

Now PMC's scoop first. They think PMJA, which is a relatively small group of people; and a couple of other similar NGO groups comprise a very tiny and minuscule percentage of total Pune population. Thus PMC see's no reason to alter their plans for some insignificant percent of population who seem to be creating much of this fuss.

Well, Yes Mr. PMC. You are right. The reason is not that PMJA and other groups are a bunch of madmen with nothing better to do. Ironically, they represent those few members of the society who really seem to care for the well-being of the city. Majority of the literate population of the city is simply unaware of what the exact plan is. They seem to be living in a oblivion that one fine day, the Pune metro will suddenly be inaugurated and opened to public which will match the wonders of the London metro.

Mr. PMC is so lucky that these ignorant few literates are so busy in their lives, selfishly and shortsightedly accumulating their personal wealth, that they are least bothered of their responsibilities as conscious and aware citizens of the state. These literate fools seem to believe that the PMC, which is staffed with majority of people who are incapable of even reading this blog, are capable and the right choice to govern and guide the growth of the city.

As far as the illiterates of the city are concerned, well they are mere vote bank. So less said, the better.

PMJA's basic objection is that Mr. PMC has wisely decided not to share the Metro plan details with the public.

Not getting into the details of the plan; simple common sense is enough to suggest that PMC's Metro plan will turn out to be another half baked cookie. History repeats itself.

1) Most recently PMC was hell bent on creating a subway at the infamous Good Luck chowk. Thanks to those few aware and conscious citizen's this plan was proved to be half thought and thus right fully scrapped.

2) Look at the Pune BRT planning; it was another example of PMC's half thought out; hastily executed project. No wonder it was a failure.

3) Look at the numerous subway road crossing that have been built - at the Sassoon chowk, one at Nal stop or the one at Modern college. None of them are used as intended by the public to cross the streets. Discipline is the major reason. and citizens are rightly to be blamed. But what's the result. PMC wasted money in constructing them; and then later failed in enforcing the discipline.

4) Look at the high tech high-rise parking facility on JM road. how many have ever used it?

The list of PMC's failures can go on. But that's not the point.

What is the real problem - Bad public transport. Right?

Let us consider the IT hubs in the city where lakhs of individuals commute every day. Invariably almost everybody drives his or her car to the office. Consider Magarpatta or Hinjewadi. They both employ lakhs of individuals who drive their own vehicles.

A simple solution is for the PMT to start a good bus service from these two hubs. They could use nice AC buses with tickets two or three times the usual bus fare; maintain the buses in order. Today, every individual company runs its own bus service exclusively for their own staff. Now what is the need for that? Why can't an Infosys employee ride the bus with a Wipro or CTS employee? Leveraging is a good tool for cost reduction, and who knows it better than these corporates? And yet, no-one has implemented this solution.

All they need to do is to run buses at a greater frequency from these hubs throughout the city. This will have multifold benefits.
1) it will reduce # of private 4 wheelers plying on the streets, thus reducing the traffic.
2) reduce the air and sound pollution in the city
3) it will offer comfort to the individuals as they no longer need to drive hours every day
4) reduce the # of rapes that happen when these cab drivers ferry lone girls
5) will save precious natural resource - the fuel!

If it will offer so many advantages why is it that PMC & PMT have not yet implemented this solution? I guess that's where the corporate and politicians nexus comes into picture. This solution will be cheap; and if you implement a cheap solution, how will the selfish babu's get their chance at misappropriating a percentage of the funds for self enrichment.

All that the corporates and politicians are looking for is to source means of benefiting one-self's without caring about the society and its well being.

I can violate traffic rules, am a policeman!

What happens when enforcers become violators? I captured two snaps of this police vehicle that had stopped at the traffic signal way past the stop line. I was on my way with my friend in our car from Rahul theatre towards COEP at the Sancheti traffic signal.

This one is taken from the Sancheti side, facing the traffic signal. The Police toyota Qualis is seen clearly stopped a feet past the stop line. To the left you can see the front bumper of an Indica stopped before the stop line!
The second picture is the one I took of the license plate of the police Toyota, you can see the white stop line in this snap as well!




Now thats some police work!

Changing Traffic Signals

Typically in a law abiding state, with god fearing residents, we would expect the citizens, in this context, the vehicle riders and the pedestrians to abide by the law that mandates everyone to adhere to traffic rules. Pune seems to be hell bent to unlearn these habits. The numbers of such anti social commuters is low, but shows a gradual increasing trend.

I remember there were days when vehicles, as they approached a green light at a traffic signal would accelerate hoping to catch it green and thus avoid the one minute halt! Why people are still so worried at saving this one minute is a debatable question. The most logical answer seems to be the fact that they have convinced themselves, if not anyone else, that they are the busiest of living beings that dwell this city and that a loss of one minute is a life & death matter or a billion rupee risk! Whatever reasons, seeing a green light at the traffic signal made drivers speed up, hoping to pass the signal before it turned red!

Similarly, seeing a red light at the traffic signal, drivers would slow down their vehicles to stop at the zebra crossing. Those who were doing good speed would break hard, hoping to stop their vehicle before it hit the one in front. One would seldom hear screeching sound as a speeding rider applied his breaks on his 100cc bike that often wobbled before it came to a dead halt.

Things have changed! Perhaps because change is the essence of life! Not the fact that today we see 200cc bikes and lots of luxury cars with ABS and what not on the roads! The traffic signals are still very traditional red-amber-green, what has changed is the behavior at the traffic signals! It is now very opposite to how it was a decade back. It’s bad and shameful, yet satirical non the less.

Today, as a vehicle approaches a green light at a traffic signal, if the driver is doing good speed, his first reaction is to stop his acceleration. Strange but true! Yes, he stops accelerating. He has to survey the other intersecting roads to check how many vehicles continue to come from the other approach roads, blatantly ignoring the red signal in their line of path! Then if he is lucky, and the number of vehicles intersecting his path is less, he would proceed, cautiously though to avoid any collisions.

Similarly, these days seeing a red light at the traffic signal, well, it doesn’t mean much. Many riders have come to a conclusion that these traffic lights are mere source of entertainment for their young ones who might get cheered up at seeing the lights turning red to amber to green in a cyclic manner! Today’s riders are different! Very rich and polished, thanks to the country's booming economy! Seeing a red signal, they just give a cursory glance across the street to check for any traffic officer, who might once in a blue moon be waiting to nab the violators. But more often than not, there is no one manning these signals, and thus the riders meekly continue on their journey to hell-dome!

Today, once in a while, we still see a lone driver from the yester years. One who still for reasons beyond fathom, continues to follow the traditional practice of stopping at the red light! Such miscreants should be caught and sent to rehab centers where they will get trained to the new ways of life! For they do not understand, how much inconvenience they cause to others due to such erratic behavior! Imagine, as we continue to leisurely drive by a traffic signal, some stupid bloke stops right in front of you all of a sudden! We are hastily committed to break our drive! And if we are lucky, we are able to avoid a collision! And all this for what? Coz that loner decided to stop briskly seeing a red traffic light! May god bless such ignorant blokes for they shouldn't be allowed to drive their vehicles on roads if they haven't learnt the new ways!

Inculcating Self-Discipline

Many think that as ordinary citizens we can do very little to bring about the required change, but what we can ensure is that we at least do that 'little' that we can do. Only then can we demand the other authorities to take notice and act likewise.

We all get frustrated when we get stuck in a traffic jam in the mornings, when we have an important meeting to attend at the office. We get irritated when the 40mins drive turns into two hours long over drive!

We all unanimously blame the disorganized, inefficient and corrupt system that is in place; and the government officers and the traffic cops and the politicians for all the mismanagement and the current state of affairs; and also for not being able to manage the city traffic! Life in India is tough; especially when the population in the few hubs like Pune keeps increasing while the infrastructure is simply unable to cope up to the demand. Yes, we have been there, said it all, we lack honest politicians, city planners with a vision and the works; we need better and efficient governments, municipal corporations, better roads, smoother traffic systems, uninterrupted water and power supply, et al. We mock the 2020 vision of becoming a developed nation! We wish that only if the system changed!

But as the city continues to grow rapidly, there is an acute need for all its educated citizens to act responsibly and ethically. The city would not truly be 'developed' merely by adding a dozen multiplexes and shopping malls if the citizens themselves do not carry out their moral duties.

It is time for bringing about the change! And we need to change ourselves first! While blaming the system, we need pause and look deeper. Are WE all not part of the system? Are WE all doing our duties sincerely? Are WE only bound by our duties in our offices in the 9am to 5pm window? If we are so competitive and professional in our work (jobs) then why is it that we take our social duties for granted, often forget them, and blatantly flout the law whenever we see an opportunity?

Statistics shows that there is only about 50% voting turnaround in the urban areas. If we don't even exercise our voting rights, how can we demand the right politicians and better governance? How many times do we take notice of the red traffic signal, and duly stop before the zebra crossing or candidly take a left turn with a 'chelta hein' attitude with the signal is red? Do we not know these basic rules? Is it not obvious that all those annoying traffic jams would be avoided if only we did our bit correctly? We all marvel the west, but how often do we just roll down the windows and carelessly throw the chocolate and burger wrappers out on the streets?

Why do we need the police or the authorities to direct us for such simple things? How long will we continue to be so ignorant about our own actions/in-actions and at the same time expect the system to change? Would you listen to your neighbors request to turn down the volume of your hi-fi home theater systems when s/he himself is playing loud music and partying all night?

So take that first step today when you start to drive/ride your vehicles! It's time for all the educated Puneites to act morally to actively be part of that desired Intelligent Pune!