PUNE’S OWN BRAIN DRAIN



bad roads

traffic

IT

Hinjawadi

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Supriya Sule

The city seems to be losing its sheen as one of the country’s top IT capitals, all thanks to the shoddy civic infrastructure at its largest IT Park in. Now, techies in large numbers have escalated the issue to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, requesting him to ‘Free Up Hinjawadi’ via a petition.The frustrated software professionals claim traffic chaos and bad planning of roads and projects in this area have come at a huge cost to the state government, as a number of companies are choosing to relocate out of the area, once considered the crown of the city’s ‘tech capital’ stature. The terrible commute is a regular feature of roads to Rajiv Gandhi IT Park — in the last few years, the situation has degraded so much that the six-kilometre stretch takes two or three hours to cover on a daily basis.Spread over 2,800 acres, this IT Park was the first one of its kind to come up in Pune, becoming home to renowned IT companies like Infosys, Persistent, KPIT and more. Close to 10 lakh techies reportedly commute to and from Hinjawadi every day — but, despite suffering for several years, and even approaching the authorities with their issues, their travails have only worsened.The employees claim small businesses are turning away from the area, relocating to new hubs within the city or migrating completely. This, they said, does not showcase Pune as a good investment destination; besides, it is also leaving a bad impression with the thousands of foreign clients that frequent their companies for business.One of the major points made in their online petition to the CM is that the road network to Hinjawadi has only two major entry points. This is causing a bottleneck, with traffic congestion further peaking due to the government negligence — a host of projects like the Wakad Bhumkar Chowk redevelopment, Sus Nande road-widening, and Mhalunge Road and bridge construction have all remained pending for years.Moreover, existing roads are full of potholes, and suffer from rampant unchecked encroachments.Sudhir Deshmukh, who is heading the Free Up Hinjawadi 2.0 campaign, said, “We keep getting stuck in traffic. We had started a similar petition last year, and some issues were addressed — but we need this new initiative now. Much of our problems can be easily resolved, like by filling up potholes. The growth in tech-friendly spaces (such as on the Old Pune-Mumbai Highway and Baner) clearly show that many small companies are shying away from Hinjawadi. We need to tackle this.”Their petition now demands that nine villages surrounding Hinjawadi should be merged into the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), so that one governing authority takes care of the IT Park. They also want the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) to give the area top priority in its upcoming Development Plan (DP), while demanding an additional force of staff be deployed to remove all encroachments on their roads.“There is always a jurisdiction issue between authorities. For instance, part of the park that falls under Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) is completely ignored by other agencies. This lack of coordination leaves many issues unresolved. They all need to come on one platform to address our concerns,” said Vidyadhar Purandare, secretary of the Software Exporters Association.Similarly, Hinjawadi Industries Association (HIA) president Satish Pai added, “We are working on multiple initiatives related to garbage, traffic and more with the government, but progress is very slow. Now, they are saying infrastructural work can only commence post-monsoon. The Maan Road, built just two months ago, is already full of potholes. All this shoddy workmanship is coming at a huge cost for companies. Many have shifted to Hyderabad or Chennai. Customers who visit Hinjawadi also ask us to execute projects from other parts of the country.”Besides an online petition, onground initiatives are underway as well. Hinjawadi Employees and Residents Association president Dyanendra Hulsure shared, “We regularly meet with officials from various agencies and coordinate between associations in our area. One such meeting was held on Sunday with Member of Parliament (MP).”Politicians have also jumped into the fray. Nationalist Congress Party’s (NCP) Sule, who represents this area, said, “Hinjawadi IT Park contributes significantly to Maharashtra’s revenue. It has led to job creation and development in the IT sector. Both local residents and IT professionals are suffering due to severe traffic congestion since its inception, resulting in economic losses to companies. This is a serious issue. I’ve been following up with Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) and Pune transport officials regularly, to no avail. I request the CM to look into this personally.”When contacted, Pune district guardian minister Girish Bapat told Mirror, “I have held some seven meetings in the last two years about these traffic issues. The major problem is that there is just one access road. We are trying to construct other roads, but they were stuck due to land acquisition and other problems. These have been solved now. The tendering process is also done — but work is on hold to ensure its quality. After the monsoon, things will be resolved here in four or five months. We urge companies not to leave Hinjawadi.”