PCB vice-president Karan Makhwana said that the walking plaza will start on MG Road from November 12.
Although the Pune Cantonment Board (PCB) is keen to restart the MG Road Walking Plaza on November 12, the traffic police, it seems, are at sea about PCB’s plans.
PCB vice-president Karan Makhwana told DNA on Friday that the walking plaza will start on MG Road from November 12. On the other hand, deputy commissioner of police (DCP) (traffic) Vishwas Pandhare claimed to have no idea about the tentative date of restarting of the walking plaza.
“We have not yet received any official notification from PCB about the walking plaza on MG Road. Though in the past, we received a letter from them, no dates of initiation were discussed,’’ Pandhare said.
The experiment of walking plaza was initiated in 2006 by the PCB but was disbanded in 2008 following the Mumbai terror attacks.
According to Pandhare, the traffic police was worried about the traffic congestion in the area. “There may be traffic congestion due to the walking plaza. However, things will only be clarified once the plaza starts,’’ he said.
When asked about the traffic police being clueless about their plan to start the plaza, Makhwana said that PCB will be holding the meetings with the traffic police about the issue. “We will hold meetings with the traffic police in the future, about the flow of traffic and other such issues.’’
While on the one hand, the traffic police seem to be clueless, on the other, the residents, hawkers and shopkeepers in the area too aren’t in accordance with PCB’s idea. According to them, the PCB has failed to issue any public notice about the issue.
“A public issue needs to be discussed wherein suggestion should be invited before reaching a conclusion. The PCB hasn’t done anything of this sort,’’ advocate Netraprakash Bhog, a resident of camp, told DNA.
Bhog even accused PCB of improper town planning. “The PCB suffers from improper town planning. It is a stupid decision to start walking plaza on MG Road, which in itself is a loaded region of the city. Relocating the traffic and the hawkers from the road on the day will be a big issue,’’ he said.
The hawkers feel that they are silent sufferers of the plan. “People love to visit the place on Saturdays. If on that particular day itself, we are not allowed to carry our business, we will suffer huge losses,’’ Santosh Kumar, a bhel vendor, said.
This year, PCB’s plan of walking plaza has certain alterations. It will be a no-vehicle zone only on Saturdays and the hawkers, eateries, stalls or music shows won’t be allowed on the road on the day.
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