Pune

The state budget on March 18 gave short shrift to Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad, with no budgetary allocations for several key projects.

The proposed Purandar international airport, the ring road, and the Pune Metropolitan Regional Development Authority found no mention in the budget, while no specific funds were allotted to the Smart City mission and metro rail in both cities.

In his speech, finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar said Rs1,600 crore of Central and state government funds have been allocated for smart city projects in seven cities — Pune, Solapur, Kalyan-Dombivli, Nagpur, Nashik, Aurangabad and Thane.

While Pune and Solapur were selected for the first round, Kalyan-Dombivli, Nagpur, Nashik, Thane and Aurangabad have been included in the second round.

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, during the municipal election campaign in both the cities, had promised that Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad will be transformed into smart and modern cities, with Wi-Fi services and seamless multi-modal transport connectivity with a single ticket. He also said citizens would be able to download data on transport services on their cellphones, and that public transport would be strengthened.

However, no allocations have been made on this front.

Mungantiwar also said Rs710 crore has been allotted for three Mumbai metro rail lines as well as for two lines each for the Pune metro and Nagpur metro rail projects.

These minimal allocations would hardly prove helpful in implementing these projects. The Pune metro project has two corridors — Pimpri-Swargate and Vanaz-Ramwadi.

The Centre had allocated Rs990 to reduce pollution in the Mula-Mutha rivers over a period of six years. The state government says it is 'expecting' Rs100 crore to be released this year, and so, made no budgetary allocations this year towards the river-cleaning mission.

Surprisingly, no allocations have been made for the Purandar airport, the PMRDA — which is responsible for the Hinjewadi-Pune University metro rail line — and the ambitious ring road project covering Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad.

However, a partly sum of Rs 50 crore has been set aside for the development of five airports in Shirdi, Solapur, Karad, Amravati and Chandrapur.