Pune: The civic body on Tuesday paved the way for more constructions dotting the High Capacity Mass Transit Route with its general body approving allotment of up to 4 floor space index along it.According to the proposal the general body (GB) approved, the additional floor space index (FSI) would be given up to 500 metres alongside the route. The FSI would range from 2.25 to 4, depending on the road width.Pune municipal commissioner Saurabh Rao said, “The infrastructure would have to be built to fulfil the needs of people who will live in the constructions coming up using the 4 FSI. The money generated by the premium of the FSI would be used to build the facilities.”He said various options for making the High Capacity Mass Transit Route ( HCMTR ) project viable were studied. Factors such as toll and surcharge on fuel were discussed to raise the capital for the project. The civic officials had been working for around three months for finalizing the details of the project and preparing the docket, he said.According to the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) officials, the civic administration has planned to complete the land acquisition for the HCMTR in three months. Drone cameras and other high-end technology would be used for quick land acquisition.Rao said retired government officials would be a part of the project committee. The acquisition of private as well as government land would be done.The opposition parties questioned the allotment of more FSI. According to activists there is “no justification of giving additional FSI” as the key purpose of the HCMTR is lost.“The first and basic purpose of HCMTR was to give exclusive access to public transport. But as per the current plan of the civic body, this purpose has been changed. It is not exclusively for public transport. Personal vehicles will be allowed. The additional FSI will be of no use in such a scenario,” said Sujit Patwardhan of Parisar organization.A group of corporators claimed that the civic officials were designing the road to help some builders. They demanded that the alignment should be such that it benefited all citizens and not a specific group of developers.“If there are any issues related to alignment they can be addressed. We are open for changes in alignment where there are really needed,” Rao said.The length of the six-lane route would be around 36km, while the width will be 24m. The project cost is around Rs6,000 crore. Of it, around Rs1,500 crore would be needed for land acquisition.According to the PMC officials, a provision of around Rs110 crore has been made in the municipal budget of 2019-2020 for this project. It is expected to ease the traffic in the city by providing an exclusive passage to four-wheelers and heavy vehicles.

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