Pune: Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday went on the attack against those opposing

Pune: Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday went on the attack against those opposing state govt’s Rs 5,000 advance assistance to farmers affected by crop losses, suggesting they were out of touch with reality.

The plan also envisages coordinated development of essential civic infrastructure, including drinking water supply and drainage systems, with these facilities linked to the region’s overall growth, Fadnavis said, adding that Centre has agreed to provide Rs 5,000 crore.

Those accustomed to travelling in big cars and living in large houses cannot understand its importance, but farmers do,” Fadnavis said, adding that the process of transferring the assistance to farmers’ bank accounts had already begun. About the Metro, the CM said Pune would eventually have an extensive network. “Once all these lines are completed, Pune will have a 120km Metro network, which will also connect Purandar airport,” he said. Fadnavis said govt has drawn up an integrated infrastructure development plan for Pune, Pimpri Chinchwad and Pune Metropolitan Region (PMR), covering the outer and inner ring roads, High Capacity Mass Transit Route (HCMTR), tunnels and other major infrastructure projects. The chief minister also said PMPML was now part of the Metro’s integrated ticketing system through Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC). Following complaints of rainwater leakage at a station and non-operational stations, Fadnavis said: “Some work remains to be completed. We will finish that and review its quality,” he said.

“This is an advance amount and our support to farmers will continue. He added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has assured Centre’s assistance.

Claiming that Mahayuti govt had provided the highest assistance to farmers compared with previous govts, he alleged that earlier govt and administration had offered only token relief. Foundation stones for four corridors under the second phase of the Metro project were laid on Monday.