Pune: Residents Protest Against New Entrance Gate At Khadki Railway Station

The construction of the entrance gate for Khadki Railway station has entered into a gridlock between nearby residents of housing societies, schools and the railway officials. The residents protested against the construction of a new gate at Khadki railway station on Friday.  

Siddharth Shirole, MLA of Shivajinagar constituency and Sunita Wadekar, Ex Deputy Mayor of PMC, joined the protest demanding the removal of the gate. However, some sections of the residents welcome the construction of a new railway gate at Khadki railway station, as they see it as vital for the accessibility of the Indian railway and for the development of the people in the region.  

Khadki railway station is being revamped along with the Hadapsar railway station to mitigate the heavy load of railway traffic management at Pune Railway Station. Anwar Sheikh, a social activist and member of Miss Faraha Foundation, has welcomed the construction of the entrance gate at Khadki railway station.

“This gate is a vital development that will significantly improve passenger accessibility, traffic flow, and overall commuter convenience in the Khadki area. The station is expanding into a major junction, and the new entry gate is crucial to accommodate the increasing number of passengers and vehicles efficiently,” Sheikh told FPJ.  

On Friday, St Thomas school, Mount Vert society, along with residents of 12 other areas of Aundh, staged a “Gate Hatao” demonstration targeting the construction of a new entrance gate of Khadki railway station.  

Vasudha Nirbhavane resident of Mount Vart Housing Society, speaking to FPJ, said, The construction of the gate at the junction where three roads converge will exacerbate traffic snarls, endanger pedestrians and disrupt the daily life of a densely populated neighbourhood.”   

“The Range Hill Road is regularly occupied by the large movements of heavy vehicles like private buses, trucks and small vehicles, especially at night. At peak hours of the night, from Khadki underpass to my society, which is hardly 500 metres away, it takes more than half an hour to commute such a small distance, Nirbhavane added. 

“With school and 12 housing societies nearby, this is beyond comprehension why the gate is being constructed at such a location, it is endangering the lives of school children and people, Sunil Gaikwad, a resident of Bopodi.

The area near Range Hill is undergoing a massive infrastructure upgrade to ease the connectivity of commuters by integrating the road, railway and metro network. As reported by FPJ on January 27, the work for widening of Khadki underpass, a vital artery connecting commuters from Aundh, Bopodi to old Mumbai- Pune Highway, was expected to be completed by the end of the six months, but is still pot hole-laden and is far away from completion at the scheduled time. 

Sanjay Kumbhar, Station Manager of Khadki railway station, told FPJ, “The agitation against the construction of the gate started after the first passenger train from Khadki to Indore ran on October 2.” 

The revamping of Khadki railway station started on May 10. In the process of development, three gates have to be constructed for the newly constructed 2 additional platforms to ease the free movement of passengers. Kumbhar argued that agitators should have protested before the construction of the gate; we would have listened to their demands, and the money of the public exchequer could have been saved.  

He acknowledged the letter received from the St Thomas school and the nearby society against the construction of the gate, and has been transferred to the Divisional Railway Manager's office for further deliberations. 

The expansion and revamp of Khadki railway station demonstrate the need for social dialogue between stakeholders to smooth the upgradation of public infrastructure projects.  No deliberate discussion happened between the residents and the railway officials before the commencement of construction.  

Nirbhavane says that we were aware of the construction happening at the railway station, but we were not told that the entrance gate would open at the mouth of the square. Responding to it, Kumbhar said that the gate is being constructed on the government property without touching the walls of the school or housing society. 

However, Anwar Sheikh criticised the opposition against the construction of the gate by the housing society. PMC DP plan has explicitly stated that the road extending towards the society should be widened to 15 feet for the improvement of traffic management. 

“The St. Thomas school has a couple of entrance gates; the construction of a new railway gate will not harm the movement of school children,” said Sheikh. However, Nirbhavane says, we are not against the expansion of Khadki railway station; we are suggesting that it should be moved 200 meters towards Sai mandir, away from the current position.  

While recalling the past instance of alteration between housing societies and Indian railways over the construction of a ticket counter facing the road, she said, “We are thankful to Indian railways for listening to our demand and shifting the ticket counter inside the platform. We hope Indian Railways will once again be considerate of our apprehension.”