The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) and the Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation (Maha-Metro) are all set to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the construction of the Shivajinagar ST depot in Pune next week.
Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Shivajinagar, Siddharth Shirole, said the decision was taken on Wednesday in a meeting chaired by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who is also Pune's Guardian Minister. State Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik, Minister of State Madhuri Misal, and officials from MSRTC and Maha-Metro were present for the meeting.
"Following the signing of the MoU next week, the foundation stone for this comprehensive project will be laid in the coming months," Shirole added.
The Maha-Metro had reportedly prepared a draft MoU for the construction of the Shivajinagar bus depot last year.
MSRTC had offered land to Maha-Metro in 2019 for the construction of the Shivajinagar underground metro station. As per the agreement, Maha-Metro is supposed to facilitate the construction of a new Shivajinagar bus depot. Currently, the bus depot is operating from Wakdewadi, which leads to massive traffic congestion on the old Pune-Mumbai highway.
The project is estimated to cost between Rs 250 crore and Rs 300 crore.
Meanwhile, in the meeting, Misal said her demand of developing a bus depot in Swargate on the lines of the one to be built in Shivajinagar was accepted. "It was assured in the meeting that a depot with all the facilities will be built. Swargate is an important centre for travelling to all parts of the state. Therefore, if ST services and metro services are provided together, it will be of great benefit to the passengers," she wrote on X.
