Pune Metro Swargate – Katraj Line’s Geotechnical Work Begins

Myrtle Project and Consultancy Pvt. Ltd. has officially started soil investigation work for Pune Metro Purple Line‘s 5.46 km extension from Swargate to Katraj.

This entirely underground extension under Pune Metro Phase 1 Extension project (also known as Phase 1A project) will consist of 3 stations at Market Yard (Gultekdi), Saibaba Nagar & Katraj. It’s currently awaiting approval from the Central Government’s Public Investment Board (PIB).

Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (Maha Metro) had awarded Myrtle with its Rs. 1.69 crore geotechnical investigation contract (Package P1Misc-34) in March 2024.

The results from Myrtle’s investigation will be included within the civil construction tender documents to help infrastructure companies make more informed financial bids and use appropriate machinery, methods & technology during construction.

Here are some snaps of a rig spotted in front of Lotus Court at Panchmi Hotel Chowk on Satara Road (view on Google Maps) by Devesh Shah. Market Yard (Gultekdi) Station is planned to be built hereabouts.

Contractors reuse and redeploy barricades from one project to another, and in this case you can still see Chennai Metro Rail’s name from a past geotechnical exercise.

Devesh runs a cool YouTube channel on Pune’s infrastructure – check out his video of this site here.

Back in March, PINI India was awarded a Rs. 6.84 crore contract to provide Detailed Design Consultancy (DDC) services for this extension. Their scope includes providing architectural, tunnel ventilation (TVS), subway environmental simulation (SES), environmental control system (ECS), building management system (BMS), electrical & mechanical (E&M) services and proof checking services.

I expect designs for civil construction to be ready in Q4 2024. If the Central Government’s approval and financing is in place by then, then we might see its construction tender notice to start the bidding process getting published before the year ends. Looking at that, the start of construction work at this time is easily at least 15 months away.

For more updates, check out the Pune Metro section or my Home Page! Sign up for free instant email notifications on new posts over here. Like this post? Get early-access to updates and support the site over here.

– TMRG