Nitin Gadkari(file photo)

PUNE: Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari on Saturday mooted an idea to run broad gauge metro rail up to Satara, Ahmednagar, Lonavla and Solapur to help develop these towns as satellite cities and thereby decongest Pune city and its surrounding area.

“The city cannot bear additional pressure. A time has come to decongest the city by restricting population growth and moving some activities out of the city area to other nearby places,” Gadkari said while speaking at a function “Pune Superfast” organised by the Maharashtra Times.

Gadkari said that a similar model was under consideration for the Nagpur region wherein towns like Vardha, Bhandara, Katol are expected to be connected via broad guage metro rail. A memorandum of understanding (MOU) will be signed with the Indian Railways to take the project ahead, he said.

Gadkari said that there was an idea to operate broad gauge metro rakes of four bogies each on the existing railway tracks. These rakes will run at much faster speed than the speed of trains. It will save time and provide better frequency, he said.

Gadkari said that his department was working on a proposal to develop dry ports in the state at Sangli, Nashik, Jalna and Vardha. “These ports will be developed near the railway tracks. There is a plan to shift the container transport via railway, instead of road. The roads can be kept free for passenger transport,” he said.

Gadkari said that increasing pollution has been a big challenge for cities like Pune. The cities will have to adopt cleaner fuel to restrict pollution. Pune’s public transport has to be shifted to alternative fuels other than diesel and petrol, he said, suggesting that the civic administration should opt for e-buses and ethanol-run buses and auto rickshaws. Public transport buses in Nagpur have been running on ethanol, he said.

Gadkari asked the civic administration to produce energy from treatment of city’s waste and utilise it for public transport. Gadkari said that he has been speaking with the defence and other departments at the Centre for expansion of Lohegaon airport.

