Pune road widening on the Koregaon Park-Hadapsar link has moved closer to implementation after the Pune Municipal Corporation secured working permission to use 8,883.24 square metres of defence land at Ghorpadi. The PMC plans to expand the nearly 2-kilometre North Main Road stretch to 30 metres before the next monsoon, subject to the completion of formal handover procedures and preparatory work.
The road between ABC Farm Chowk and Tadigutta Chowk is currently about 15 to 18 metres wide. The widening is intended to ease congestion along the Koregaon Park-Mundhwa corridor, which connects Koregaon Park, Mundhwa, Magarpatta, Pune Cantonment, Kalyaninagar and Hadapsar railway station.
PMC chief Naval Kishore Ram said the civic body had received possession of the defence land required for widening the road. In a post on X, Ram said the project would provide relief to daily commuters and support businesses along the stretch. He also thanked the Maharashtra chief minister and the Union defence ministry for their support.
The Defence Ministry granted working permission on September 17 under the equal value infrastructure arrangement. The land, identified in survey numbers 40 and 41, has been valued at Rs 29.86 crore. Under the arrangement, the PMC will have to provide infrastructure of equivalent value while also bearing the full cost of road widening and associated works.
The permission does not represent the completion of the transfer process. Vikash Kumar, defence estates officer for the Pune division, said the defence authorities would formally hand over the land after the required procedures are completed. PMC executive engineer Sachin Bagade said a portion of the work was already in its final stage.
Once the formal handover is completed, the PMC will first undertake boundary wall work before beginning the road-widening activity. The process is expected to take a few weeks, according to the report. The civic body had proposed widening the stretch in December 2023, citing rising traffic volumes on the route.
