Reports of heavy and slow moving traffic came in all through the day from different parts of the city . The breakdown of a PMPML bus at Sancheti bridge caused massive traffic build up around CoEP during the day while a tree fall on Senapati Bapat Road in the afternoon led to chaos around the connecting road.
While there were many who altered their travel time to avoid the office hour rush in the morning, they still bore the brunt of peak-hour traffic on their drive back home in the evening. Commuters expressed frustration at the mismanagement and breakdown of basic civic infrastructure because of heavy rains.
Baner Road resident Anish Arun almost missed his morning flight to Coimbatore because of heavy traffic.Arun’s wife said, “We experienced very heavy traffic around University Chowk and then around Tingrenagar and Lohegaon where roads were totally packed. On the way back, I experienced congestion around Ahmednagar Road and Sangamwadi bridge.Buses plying in the lane meant for private vehicles on the Bus Rapid Transit System corridor totally crippled the flow of traffic.“
Ongoing road construction around Kalyaninagar bridge increased the commute time for Vimannagar resident Akansha Choudhary , who spent almost 20 minutes more just to cover a 5-km journey .Expressing anguish at the everyday traffic problems in the area, Akansha said, “The road repair works have wrecked havoc for commuters on this stretch of the road. Evenings are even worse on Tuesday it took me one hour and 15 minutes to reach home from Koregaon Park a 20 minute journey otherwise.“
Suvarna Kelkar, who tra velled from Sinhagad Road to Fergusson College Road, too experienced slow moving traffic along the way . “I had to go through almost three to four signal cycles at every chowk to final cross the junction,“ she said.
It took marketing profes sional Mohsin Mokashi more than 45 minutes to commute from K to commute from Kondhwa to Sadashiv Peth in the morning.The incessent rain increased his commute time by more than 15 minutes. Expressing frustration at the failing infrastructure, Mokashi said, “The drainage system of the city area is not working well.Besides, the encroachments at the riverside further affect traffic movement along the area.“
Ram Sutar, who was travelling from Satara to Mumbai, was seen enquiring about a petrol pump nearby . “I was not expecting such heavy rains and long traffic jams on the NH4. Now my car has almost run out of fuel. I here to go,“ he sa don’t know where to go,“ he said.
Those driving along the Pune-Bengaluru highway too experienced severe waterlogging and bad quality roads.“Barring a few patches, there were potholes everywhere.Due to waterlogging, motorists were not able to locate the potholes and this made driving even more difficult. Besides, diversions near Khed Shivapur and Nasrapur added to the trouble. The condition of service roads was pathetic, which severely affected the overall flow of traffic along the highway ,“ said one commuter, who drove from Pune to Bhor on Wednesday morning.
Abhishek Patil, who commutes daily between Magarpatta and Wakad, said he dreads his every day travel. “On Tuesday evening, it took me two and a half hours to reach home. Traffic was heavy at all major junctions Noble Hospital bridge, Fatimanagar, Race Course, around Police Commissioner’s office, Juna Bazar chowk, Sancheti bridge, RTO, Shivajinagar and the University road. Ambulances get routinely stuck and misuse of BRTS lanes is rampant.PMPML buses breaking down is a routine now. On Wednesday morning, I experienced heavy traffic around University circle, Simla office and Fatimanagar. It took me almost 50 minutes to complete the travel,“ he said.
A part of the road caved in around Gunjan Talkies chowk on Ahmednagar Road, leading to traffic build up. Commuters spent almost 20 minutes just to get out of the intersection around noon. The traffic spillover continued all over the city till late in the afternoon.
Source : TOI
