Roads in Pune hit by traffic congestion and chaos due to heavy rains
Pune: Nagar Road Residents Demand Urgent Safety Measures Amid Traffic Changes
Incessant Rain and Poor Road Conditions Blamed for Widespread Traffic Jams
Pune experienced severe traffic congestion on Wednesday morning, particularly during peak hours. Heavy rain and deteriorating road conditions brought the city’s main arteries to a standstill. The traffic police attributed the chaos to a combination of incessant rain, road damage, waterlogging, and ongoing construction work.
Several key routes, including Sinhagad Road, Fergusson College Road, Shastri Road, Ganesh Khind Road, Baner Road, and multiple interconnected roads in Hadapsar, Mundhwa, Chandan Nagar, Viman Nagar, and Tadi Gutta, were clogged with long queues of vehicles.
“Incessant rain has damaged the road surface quality in many parts of the city. This includes damage to upper layers, formation of potholes, and overall road surfaces becoming slippery. This has resulted in significantly bringing down the speed of the vehicles, causing congestion on many roads,” explained an officer from the Traffic Control branch.
The officer noted that riverside roads had been closed due to submersion, leading to vehicles being rerouted through other junctions. Additionally, multiple underpasses experienced intermittent functionality due to waterlogging, while some buses broke down and traffic signals at several junctions malfunctioned.
“Ongoing constructions and repairs, combined with the full weekday volume of traffic during peak hours, have had a cascading effect, resulting in jams on many arterial roads in the city this morning. Our entire staff is on the roads managing the situation, and we are in touch with civic authorities for remedial measures,” the officer added.
The recent heavy rains have exacerbated the traffic woes. On July 25, when Pune and its outskirts were pounded by heavy rain, 25 routes in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad were closed for traffic throughout the day due to waterlogging and the closure of underpasses and bridges.
