Prime Minister Narendra Modi was scheduled to visit Pune on Thursday to inaugurate the District Court to Swargate stretch of Pune Metro and other development projects worth ₹22,600 crore. However, the PM's visit was cancelled due to the heavy rain situation in the city. Meanwhile, the event is now being held virtually on Sunday, with Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar being physically present in Pune for the inauguration.
The event will be held at the Ganesh Kala Krida Manch at Swargate from 11:30am onwards. For the same, the Pune City Police have announced changes in traffic routes.
The changes are as follows:
1. There will be no parking from Jedhe Chowk to Bajaj Statue Chowk from 7am till needed. If required, this road would be closed to traffic.
2. There will be no parking from Chhatrapati Statue Chowk to Kamgar State Chowk and from Tofkhana Chowk to Ranade Path from 7am to 4pm.
Earlier on Friday, the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) staged a protest outside the District Court station. The protesters also symbolically inaugurated the metro service, raising slogans against the Prime Minister for the delay.
Prashant Jagtap, Pune City President, NCP (SP), said, "For the preparation of the event, the administration spent a lot of money. This expenditure should be incurred from the PM's pocket. It is kind of a joke that the country's PM is visiting Pune every year to inaugurate the same metro line."
Congress MLA Ravindra Dhangekar added, "The metro stretch should have started on the same day. The PM could have done a virtual inauguration. What was wrong with that? Five times in five years, PM Modi visited Pune just for a small stretch. The public is paying huge taxes, and he should reply to them."
Arvind Shinde, Pune City President, Congress, asked, "How many times should the PM visit a city to inaugurate the same metro route?" He added, "It's a financial loss for Pune residents."
Sanjay More, Pune City President, Shiv Sena (UBT), further said, "If the Prime Minister is worried about Pune's rain and potholes, then why did he plan to inaugurate manually? Modi should have pressed the green button while sitting in Delhi. Punekars are asking about the financial loss from his visit. Pune Metro should be started for the public, not wait for the PM to inaugurate."
