Pune News : Hadapsar and Kharadi residents continue to face traffic woes; civic body remains negligent
By: Pune pulse
July 26, 2023
Pune: Residents of Hadapsar & Kharadi remain worried as they continue to face several traffic and road issues every day for a long time.
Speaking to Pune Pulse, Arnab Guha, Resident of Amanora Park Town, Hadapsar said, “After Hadapsar station flyover, there is a narrow road from where only 1 vehicle can pass at a time creating problems for others. An auto rickshaw stand is there near a signal on Hadapsar to Kharadi route. The auto rickshaws keep coming from the wrong direction. Also, just before the Mundhwa Riverside Bridge, people drive on the wrong side of the road. Even traffic police officials present there let them go. No lane discipline is there. At times, traffic gets choked completely. Nobody is bothered to pay attention to these issues here.”
Satyajit Jindam, Resident of Amanora Park Town, Hadapsar said, “After corona, a lot of heavy vehicles have started commuting on this route. The road near Mundhwa Bridge is filled with potholes & water logging happens there regularly which hasn’t been addressed at all. The road after the Mundhwa signal is encroached upon. Incidence of wrong-side driving is prevalent everywhere. The police or administration is not paying attention to this at all.”
Amit Joshi, Another Resident said, “Heavy vehicles must be denied entry on this road. The roads are also getting damaged due to rain as no repair work is going on for several months. Nowadays, it takes me 1 hour to travel to my workplace which used to take me around 20 minutes.”
Sanjeev Rastogi, a resident of Amanora Park Town, Hadapsar said, “It’s been 5 years since these traffic hassles have emerged. Only one lane is open for most of the routes. No alternate roads are there. Travelling to the Kharadi side takes me 1 hour. People, as in people from my office, our guests etc, are afraid to come to Amanora Park Town side due to such traffic conditions.”
Snehashis Tiwary, Chairman of Nyati Elysia Society, Kharadi said, “For my kids, it takes around 1 to 1.5 hours to travel a distance of 3 to 4 kilometers to reach their school all because of the traffic jams and horrible road conditions. Every day there is a traffic jam in Mundhwa Chowk which leads to delays and there is wastage of fuel as well. Kharadi side is developing as an IT Park but the condition of the roads and the traffic situation is very bad. When is the traffic police & civic body going to resolve these issues?”
D D Mishra, Resident of Amanora Park Town, Hadapsar said, ” Me & all the concerned citizens have expressed our inability to understand why this traffic situation is so unstable despite the clear guidelines. There have been reports of many agitations to improve the situation recently but things have not changed. Meanwhile, there is considerable anger amongst me & rest of the Hadapsar and Mundhwa residents against the apathy that we are facing currently from the Government in solving this issue and implementing the guidelines.”
As per information by D D Mishra, the traffic situation in Amanora and Magarpatta commuters has gone from bad to worse. In 2018, Amanora Park Town residents formed a team and approached this matter with various residents. They also raised an online petition to the then Chief Minister which was signed by a large number of people. This issue was addressed and the traffic police in their letter, in September 2019, issued a clarification indicating that morning 08:00 hrs to 11:00 hrs and evening 17:00 Hrs to 21 hrs, entry of heavy vehicles will be restricted.
This remained in effect for a few years but after that again the chaos revisited. Subsequently, the citizen’s group files an RTI to understand the current situation. In October 2022, once again the traffic police department confirmed that the restriction remained valid and subsequently there was a good improvement in traffic condition which lasted for a few months.
However, from April 2023, the traffic situation has deteriorated again.
Shesharao Jaybhaye, Mundhwa Traffic Division said, “Due to heavy rain, the roads have started developing potholes. Hence, the speed of the vehicles becomes very slow. That’s why a lot of traffic is seen every day. The traffic division has appointed 4 wardens, 5 police constables & 1 Police Sub Inspector for the area.”
Pune Pulse tried contacting the relevant PMC official but couldn’t connect till the filing of this report.
