CM promises speedy approval for Metro

PMC poll near, Chavan says govt will ensure Pune projects get nod before election code kicks in

CM promises speedy approval for Metro

PMC poll near, Chavan says govt will ensureu00a0Pune projects get nod before election code kicks in

All together: Corporator Deepak Mankar, Cooperatives Minister
Harshawardhan Patil, Industries Minister Narayan Rane, Forest Minister
Patangrao Kadam, CM Prithviraj Chavan, state Congress chief Manikrao
Thakre and corporator Abhay Chhajed at the Congress Bhavan yesterday.
Pic/Krunal Gosavi

"The Metro project will soon be approved by the state government and sent to the Centre for approval. Only the decision regarding financial pattern for the funding, that is as per the Delhi, Bangalore or the build-operate-transfer (BOT) model, is to be taken in consultation with the Union Government," said Chavan.

The CM and other city and state leaders were addressing thousands of party workers at the Congress Bhavan in a leader-party worker meet organised by the city's Congress committee and the Shivajinagar electoral constituency.

The day also was the death anniversary of former prime minister Indira Gandhi. The massive meet was to rejuvenate the leader-party worker connect before the elections in a few months. The CM also promised to allow 4 per cent construction in the bio-diversity project of the city's 23 merged villages, which has divided certain city-level Congress leaders. While some leaders oppose construction in the BDP, others point towards sufficient green cover and using the new land.

A Rs 815 crore plan to clean the Mula-Mutha river has also been sent to the Centre. State leaders also attacked the 'Pune pattern' of civic-level alliance between the other three major political parties as the prime reason behind the city's degeneration. State Congress chief Manikrao Thakre and Industries Minister Narayan Rane said the Pune pattern has been maligning the party's image in the city.

"The Congress walks shoulder to shoulder with every party it allies with, but the Pune pattern has disallowed this and shunted the city's growth," Thakre said. The Pune pattern refers to the BJP-NCP-Sena alliance to counter the Congress.

Highlights of the meeting
>>u00a0The meet saw the induction and felicitation of leaders from other parties joining the Congress all over the state. Cooperatives Minister Harshawardhan Patil pointed towards the rising trend of leaders from opposition parties joining the Congress ranks. "The atmosphere is changing all over the state, which shows the Congress' popularity amongst the people," he said.u00a0u00a0
>> In a bid to water down the 2G and other scams which have cost the Congress crucial mileage nationally, CM Chavan said the Congress was at the forefront of passing the RTI Act and has always supported transparency in government functioning. "It was a conscious decision of the Congress leadership to foster smoother government functioning and we also support the Jan Lokpal Bill," Chavan said.u00a0
>> Talking about the growing industrial investment in the state, the CM claimed that the state still remains one of the favoured destinations for private and industrial investment. "Forty memorandums of understanding worth Rs 500 crore have been signed with leading companies and industry majors. There is also rising foreign institutional investment (FII) and a rise in international research and development (R&D) centres in Satara and Pune districts," he said.u00a0u00a0u00a0

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