The aftermath of an audit report of the Pune Smart City Development Corporation Limited (PSCDCL) revealed that only five of its projects out of 41 started under the Smart City Mission are completed or nearing completion.
Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) corporators have expressed their disappointment in the way of functioning of the PSCDCL. Adding to it, opposition leaders also questioned on the expenditure incurred on these projects till date. The newly appointed PSCDCL Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Rubal Agrawal has started reviewing the situation.
PSCDCL was established in 2016 to make Pune city a smart city. After its inception, members announced various area based initiatives for Aundh, Baner and Balewadi as well as pan-city projects.
However, a recent Smart City audit report for 2018 revealed only five projects out of 41 projects have been completed or nearing completion. The completed projects mostly include development of community farming, Bookzenia, Science Park, construction of Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) schools in Aundh-Baner-Balewadi, procurement of fire tenders and also handing over 80 patrolling vehicles to the Pune police department.
Completion status of most of the remaining projects is between 5 to 40 percent. Some have been put on hold due to legal or land acquisition issues or are awaiting approval from PSCDCL board. The tender for widening Mahadji Shinde Road has been cancelled due to development plan issues.
The local BJP corporators have asked Agrawal to expedite the work. Amol Balwadkar, corporator from Baner-Balewadi said, “I won’t say nothing has been achieved, but it is true that a majority of projects are pending. There are legal disputes or problems in land acquisition that have come up. There also seems to be a lack of coordination between PMC and PSCDCL.”
Leader of Opposition Dilip Barate also said, “The audit report cleared that most smart city projects are pending. Why exactly did they spend the funds on then? Most of the tenders have been processed. What is the reason for the delay? We have sought an explanation on this.”
New CEO of PSCDCL Agrawal only shared that she has started taking a review of all the projects. A decision on them will be taken soon.
