Maha-Metro places iron decking near Mandai underground metro station

PUNE In a first for the Pune metro, Maha-Metro has placed an iron decking on the patch of road near Mandai underground metro station so as to continue excavation work without bringing traffic to a grinding halt. Since the decking was carried out on June 16 till date, daily commuters have not faced any problems.

Hemant Sonawane, public relations officer (PRO), Maha Metro, said, “The decking has been carried out for the subway excavation work. The portion on which we have carried out the decking joins two lanes and Mandai being a crowded place, closing the road was not an option. When the portion of the road is covered by decking, one can work underground without causing any hurdles to the traffic.”

“As of now, the decking facility has been used only at Mandai underground metro station on the current route,” Sonawane said.

After decking, the roads too have widened a little as the barricades have been shifted behind by Maha Metro officials and the surface has become smoother to commute than the road itself.

“Earlier as the road was uneven, it was difficult for vehicles to pass but after decking, vehicles are moving easily in the last three days,” said Avinash Bade who has a salon shop at Mandai. In phase 1 of the 33.1km metro route, 6 km is underground while the remaining 27.1 km is elevated. The five stations along the underground route include Shivaji nagar, Civil court, Budhwar peth, Mandai and Swargate. The underground section has two parallel tunnels of 6 km each and three tunnel boring machines (TBMs) have been used to complete the excavation work on June 5. The work of laying the tracks along with overhead traction (cable), signalling and telecommunication is going on simultaneously for both tunnels. The work of Mandai station was delayed due to land acquisition and so far, only 30% work on the station has been completed.

“The work has picked up pace on all the stations (elevated and underground). Work at the Mandai station started later, which is why, very little work on the station has been completed. On the underground stretch, the work on Shivajinagar and Civil court stations is 75% complete,” said Sonawane.