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Indian Express
03-08-2025
- General
- Indian Express
‘Less than 10% of PMC's goal achieved': How cycle tracks fail cyclists in Pune city
In 2017, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) came out with a Comprehensive Bicycle Plan with an aim to create a 824- km cycle network and to increase the modal share of cycling from 3 per cent to 25 per cent by 2031. However, according to ground research by NGO Parisar based on the PMC data, only 83 kilometers of tracks have been built till date, and many of them have faded away or are not operational anymore. PMC's plan envisioned 824 km of cycle network across the city with 531 km segregated cycle track, 154 km marked or painted cycle lanes, 75 km independent cycle ways/ greenways, 54 km or currently existing cycle tracks that are to be retrofitted, and 11 km of footpath and cycle track merged. Less than 10% of this goal has been achieved, observed Parisar. Tanzeel Allapur, Project Lead-Sustainable Mobility at Parisar, said, 'The plan is very good. If some other city wants to do it, they should look at the Pune bicycle plan. But in implementation it has absolutely not met the goal that it set out to do. We have nowhere reached track length or increase in modal share envisioned. The cycling department at PMC was merged with the road department, so there is no dedicated authority to look after it as well.' Ranajit Gadgil, avid cyclist and programme director at Parisar, said that comprehensive coverage of cycling tracks is really lacking in the city as some officials did not follow through on the Comprehensive Bicycle Plan. 'Cycle tracks need to be in really good condition and designed exceedingly well for cyclists to be able to use them. If there are problems with that cycle track—continuity, lack of ham, obstacles, host of other things—cyclists will just not use them. They will just start using the carriageway,' he explained. On roads like Fergusson College Road and Jungli Maharaj Road, where cycling paths exist along with the footpaths, better marking and distinction could help pedestrians keep off the paths, said Gadgil. 'If there are enough cyclists using that cycle track, then pedestrians sort of know that people are cycling on this. It is a chicken-and-egg problem,' Gadgil added. Kiran Wargale, a Pune-based cycling enthusiast, flagged safety concerns for cyclists in the city. 'Most roads in the city are extremely unsafe for cycling. It's unfortunate, especially for a city that was once known for its vibrant cycling culture. Apart from a few exceptions like Aundh Road, Pashan–NDA Road, and some stretches in Pimpri-Chinchwad, the overall infrastructure is in a very bad state,' he said. 'Poorly maintained cycle tracks, damaged roads where no tracks exist, and the constant threat from unruly traffic, especially heavy vehicles pose serious risks. As a result, many cyclists are forced to ride on the city's outskirts, but even reaching those areas on a cycle involves significant danger,' he added. Another cyclist Ashwin said, 'There's no real thought given to integrating cycling into the city's transport planning. Cycle lanes, where they exist, are mostly encroached and abruptly end. It feels like cyclists are invisible in the bigger mobility picture. Instead of being encouraged as a sustainable and healthy mode of transport, cycling is treated as an afterthought. Non-existent cycling infrastructure is a sign that the city is moving in the opposite direction of sustainable development.' Rahul Nene, founder of cycling group Speaking Wheels, however has a different view. He said that the focus should be on increasing awareness about cycling rather than focusing on building cycling tracks. 'Rented cycles with proper safety mechanisms need to be reintroduced so that more people are out on the roads and driving. Currently there is not enough demand for cycling tracks, they are empty when I drive on them. Only once there is more awareness and the demand is created, we can think of building cycling tracks,' he opines. (With inputs from Sushant Kulkarni) Soham is a Correspondent with the Indian Express in Pune. A journalism graduate, he was a fact-checker before joining the Express. Soham currently covers education and is also interested in civic issues, health, human rights, and politics. ... Read More
Time of India
02-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
PMPML passenger load dips after fare hike, revenue up
Pune: PMPML's passenger traffic dipped slightly a month after the PMPML increased its fares, but the revenue grew exponentially. "The passenger traffic did not increase significantly even after schools reopened from June 15. There can be several reasons behind it, but one of them can be the increased fares. We hope to see the passenger traffic improve this month," a PMPML official said. Figures provided by the PMPML revealed that the daily passenger traffic in buses stood at 10.16 lakh in May compared to 10.01 lakh in June. While the PMPML's total revenue in May was Rs44.11 crore, its revenue spiked to Rs62.77 crore in June. The revised fare structure came into effect from June 1. You Can Also Check: Pune AQI | Weather in Pune | Bank Holidays in Pune | Public Holidays in Pune "The passenger count was bound to decrease, considering the higher fares and the cost of passes. Now the service of PMPML will be under the scanner. Until now, it has not improved. We are keeping our fingers crossed," Sadashiv Ambad, who often travels in buses, said. According to a study of Parisar, an NGO, the PMPML's ridership went up by a meagre 5% in the past 10 years though its area of operations increased. "The number of buses per lakh population has decreased from 34 to 22 in the past 10 years. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 2025 Top Trending local enterprise accounting software [Click Here] Esseps Learn More Undo Ideally, the city should have 60 buses per lakh population. This nominal ridership increase, juxtaposed with increasing private vehicle numbers, means the city will continue to suffer from congestion, pollution and road fatalities, Ranjit Gadgil, the programme director of Parisar, said. The PMPML's ridership increased to 12 lakh per day in 2023-24. There has been a steady decline since then. "While it can be attributed to the Metro, it also shows that overall public transport commuters are not increasing. The PMPML needs to be supported in playing the role of the sole public bus transport provider of Pune, which can change this situation," Gadgil said. (INSET) Transport utility's fleet size to be 3,500 buses by next year Nitin Narvekar, the joint managing director of the PMPML, said the transport utility's fleet consisted of 2,000 buses and 1,700 buses of them were on the road daily. "The numbers have improved slightly. Of the 400 CNG buses we were supposed to get and operate on contract, we have received 291 buses. The rest will come very soon. The PMPML is set to buy its own 1,000 CNG buses. The tender process is in its final stage. We expect the rollout of these buses within six months. Also, the PMPML will receive 1,000 e-buses under a scheme of the Centre. These buses will take some time to come, though. We expect our fleet size to increase to at least 3,500 buses by next year," he said.
Indian Express
22-06-2025
- General
- Indian Express
How a city killed a river: lessons from Delhi's Sahibi river for Pune's urban planners
For centuries, a seasonal river emerged from the Aravalli hills and followed its course to meander into the waters of the Yamuna – until human interventions created a conflict between it and urban planning. 'Sahibi river is a case study on how a river goes extinct in a city,' says Dr Rajendra Ravi, a Delhi-based urban social planner. When Parisar, a Pune-based organisation working on sustainable development, undertook a project to reimagine Delhi, one of the world's most polluted cities with one of the most threatened rivers, as a space for sustainability, justice, and community, mapping the disappearing Sahibi became an integral point. Ravi is the coordinator of the project. 'Our study of the Sahibi river in Delhi, which is a tributary of the Yamuna, reveals a recurring pattern of urban river mismanagement across the country. Rivers, like the Sahibi in Delhi, or the Mula and the Mutha in Pune are dammed upstream to provide water to the ever-growing cities,' says Ranjit Gadgil, Programme Director, Parisar. 'The water that flows in the rivers after damming is mostly sewage and industrial effluent, affecting the downstream communities. Constricting the Sahibi contributes to the severe flooding in Gurugram every year. Creating riverfronts does not address the pollution in the rivers and, in fact, can worsen flooding. We can expect the same in Pune,' he adds. From water to sewage According to Parisar, a course that flowed into the Yamuna was called Sabi 'Naala1807' in a 1807 map of Delhi. The Sahibi was also mentioned in the Vedic period as the Drishadvati river. 'For agrarian communities, waterbodies like rivers, canals and ponds are of great importance. There was great community involvement because waterbodies are their lifeline,' says Ravi. Once villages make way for cities, the living relationship between the people and the land, the river and other natural resources ends. 'The small tributaries and irrigation systems disappear with urbanisation. Governments rarely have a long-term plan that is aligned with the ecology, such as how will water enter a city, where will it go and how will it be cleaned before meeting the sea?' says Ravi. The Sahibi would flood during the rainy season, and urban planners created bunds and other ways to check the flow. In 1977, large parts of Delhi were flooded, and the government constructed the Masani barrage on the Delhi-Jaipur highway near Masani village in Rewari. Several other dams were constructed in Rajasthan to hold rainwater. The result was that flow in the Sahibi downstream from the Masani barrage stopped. 'The structure of the Sahibi, however, remained on the land. In place of clean water, we have waste water and sewage from colonies and industries flowing along the course of the Sahibi into the Najafgarh jheel through which the Sahibi used to enter the Yamuna,' says Ravi. 'Though you will find Sahibi on the map, the river does not exist,' he adds. Ravi adds that urban planners must find ways to dispose of sewage, else these will continue to threaten the survival of rivers. 'So far, we have gathered different data sets on the river and its extinction. We are compiling a timeline of court and NGT orders that have called for the rejuvenation and recognition of the Sahibi as a river. The Delhi lieutenant governor's office has allocated a budget and has promised a complete rejuvenation of the Sahibi soon. This, however, is yet to be verified by our fieldwork. Subsequently, we plan to refine our data and publish a booklet with a brief on the river, a timeline of court orders, budgetary allocation and efforts by the L-G. All this will be supplemented with visuals from the field site as the visual ethnography of a dead river,' says Ravi. Dipanita Nath is interested in the climate crisis and sustainability. She has written extensively on social trends, heritage, theatre and startups. She has worked with major news organizations such as Hindustan Times, The Times of India and Mint. ... Read More
