3 min readJun 12, 2026 01:47 PM IST
Taking a step forward to implement Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadanavis’ ambitious ‘Patal Lok Project’, Divisional Commissioner of Pune Shital Teli-Ugle on Thursday said a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) company has been approved for the development of the tunnel network to eliminate the city’s chronic traffic congestion.
‘Patal Lok’ initiative aims to improve the traffic of existing roads by constructing a 54-km-long network of underground roads across the city.
The SPV will also work towards implementing the major road infrastructure projects, such as the High-Capacity Mass Transit Route (HCMTR), and Inner Ring Road.
“However, it will take time for big road infrastructure projects to come into reality. The planning, design, and preparation of detailed project reports (DPR) of these projects should be expedited,” said Teli-Ugle at a review meeting of the Pune Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (PUMTA) that works on solutions to improve the traffic and public transport in Pune city, Pimpri Chinchwad, and Pune Metropolitan Region.
Considering the duration of the projects, she said there should be complete utilisation of the existing transport infrastructure facilities and an increase in their capacity. For this, a sub-committee comprising the Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad municipal corporations, Police, Railways, Mahametro, PMPML, MSRTC, and Transport Department should be set up, and a presentation should be made at the next meeting.
The officer highlighted the need for providing more PMPML buses and autorickshaw stops for improved connectivity of passengers if the Metro and railway systems have to be used efficiently.
Mahametro Managing Director Shravan Hardikar said traffic in the city will move faster if public transport vehicles are allowed to enter the proposed road tunnels.
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“Areas where traffic congestion occurs should be included in the projects on priority. Projects should be planned in coordination so that traffic in both the municipal corporations and the metropolitan region is accelerated in an integrated manner,” said Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority Commissioner Abhijit Chaudhary.
According to PMC officials, a detailed report on the route, entry and exit points, and size of the road tunnel project will be decided after a detailed study. Initially, the proposal was to construct the tunnel from Yerawada to Katraj to ensure that traffic across the city goes underground while decongesting the existing road infrastructure in the city. Later, a few more tunnel routes have been proposed from PCMC to Pune.
In another decision, the Railway officials have said that six new railway platforms will be constructed at Pune Railway Station, and the length of the existing six platforms will be increased.
