Trees first to go in proposal for flyover, grade separator at crucial Yerawada junction

Pune: Recent years have witnessed a number of clashes between city residents and the civic administration over the sacrifice of trees for infrastructure projects. While Pune Municipal Corporation's plan of action is to build flyovers, grade separators and widen roads to accommodate the fast-increasing flood of vehicles, many citizens believe the city is being over-concreted and its green cover decimated.The most recent example of this battle on loop are the trees lining the Deccan College Road, starting from Chima Garden, all the way across Bindu Madhav Balasaheb Thackeray Chowk, up to BEG Kendriya Vidyalaya. The proposed flyover and grade separator here will take traffic from Sangamwadi straight towards Airport Road as well as left towards Bharat Ratna Late Rajeev Gandhi Hospital in Yerawada, at an estimated cost of approximately Rs115 crore. The project was announced a year ago in June 2025 and work began in May this year. For the flyover, PMC in its March docket proposed that a total of 66 trees will be cut. The list includes raintrees, pimpal, neem and cluster fig trees, among others. A tree hearing to this effect was held on May 19 at the Dhole Patil Road ward office, where citizens put up significant resistance, claiming that minor adjustments could save almost all trees on the stretch. Sana Shaikh, a member of Chalo PMC, a group working to save trees across the city, said that a few minor tweaks could prevent unnecessary loss of greenery. "PMC officials told us that 7m of width must be left on either side of the flyover, as is the mandate put forth to them by the traffic police to allow for smooth flow of vehicles. But we pointed out that instead of 7m, if they considered leaving 6m on either side, almost all trees would be saved. We even visited the site with officials on two separate occasions — May 6 and May 20 — to check the situation on ground," Shaikh told TOI. "Many of the trees along this stretch have been here for years and PMC does not have a good record with transplantation. If they are uprooted, they might as well be dead. There is always some project coming up and demanding the sacrifice of trees. If we don't save them wherever possible, we will be left with nothing but a concrete jungle," the Lullanagar resident added. The junction at the centre of this collision connects important neighbourhoods like Yerawada, Bund Garden Road, Vimannagar, Sangamwadi and Khadki, among others. It is also an key stretch for those commuting to and from Pune airport. According to civic officials, traffic at this junction has risen in the recent past, making the flyover a crucial addition. However, local residents disagree. "There is a slight bit of congestion at this junction, but mostly during peak hours only. For the rest of the day, it is smooth sailing," said Rony Patel, who frequently passes through. "The junction is very large and motorists often tend to break rules while crossing it, just because they don't want to wait at the zebra crossing or for the light to turn green. This results in vehicles from all sides coming to a gridlock. The traffic signals might be slightly ill-timed, but it definitely does not need a flyover or grade separator. It needs police presence, traffic management, measures that streamline vehicular flow and a system that fines rule-breakers," added Patel, an audio consultant. His observations were backed by other commuters. Vishrantwadi resident Tanmay Dabhade said, "I try to avoid this route as much as possible on the way home because of how crowded it gets during peak hours. But whether a flyover will resolve this is questionable. The problem is not lack of space but discipline among motorists, especially those driving outstation buses. These bus drivers almost never follow lane discipline, tend to drive in the middle of the road blocking the way and break signals as per their whim and fancy. Tackling this is a higher priority. Also, the traffic signals need to be better timed." Other members of Chalo PMC also pointed out that there is a hillock on the right side of the road from Bund Garden Road towards Deccan College, which PMC is yet to get permission to cut. "There is a house atop the hillock. As far as we know, PMC is yet to negotiate with the owners to acquire that land. Then why are they in such a rush to cut the trees on the road opposite the hillock? Without possession of the hill land, flyover work cannot begin anyway," said Rekha Joshi, a group member and retired IRS official. She further said, "What if they do not get the land, or the flyover plan changes? We would have lost these precious large trees for no reason. We are not against infrastructure, we just want projects to be environmentally conscious. Temperatures are rising and PMC's transplantation or compensatory plantation is almost always done in some far-flung area, if at all." The plan for the project includes a four-lane, two-way flyover connecting Bund Garden Road to Khadki and Alandi Road, along with a one-way, three-lane grade separator that connects Sangamwadi to Bund Garden Road and Ambedkar Chowk, towards Pune airport. As far as saving the trees is concerned, PMC junior engineer Aniket Shinde, who is working on the project, told TOI, "Initially, there were 66 trees marked to be felled here, but we reduced this by 15. A new docket will be released for 51 trees. I think the oldest one is seven to eight years old." EXPERT SPEAK ‘Proper signal timings can resolve congestion' Flyovers should not be the first solution to solve traffic congestion at any junction. If the plan is to implement signal-free movement from point A to point B, a flyover allows vehicles only to avoid one junction but congest the next one, where more roads converge. Authorities must first look at other measures, like a dynamic signal system and rotary movement. Timings of signals in this case are adjusted based on the volume of vehicles (passenger car unit or PCU) coming from any one direction. An integrated traffic modelling study can be done for the junction as well — Pratap Raval | Retired professor of planning, CoEPTU OFFICIAL SAYS ‘New infra is crucial for airport connectivity' This project has been in the planning stage for about two years. Good airport connectivity is crucial and so, this infra will facilitate that. Sometimes, during peak hours, there is a 1-1.5km-long traffic build-up here and several accidents have also taken place at this junction. There are a few illegal structures that will also be demolished in the process of widening. A consultant was appointed in 2024 to study the road. The flyover will be built in the first phase and the grade separator thereafter. As far as the house on the hillock is concerned, we are in talks and all permissions are in place. We have also acquired some land from Deccan College for widening on the other side. According to the development plan, the current road should be 30m, but is only 20m right now. Pier work on the Deccan College side has started — Dinkar Gojare | Chief engineer (projects), PMC