Expert objects to the first bypass planned via Dandeghar village, citing steep gradient and narrow road near the village.
The Panchgani road bypass plan chalked out by the Satara district collectorate to ease traffic congestion in Panchgani has met with stiff resistance from all quarters.
The plan, presented by the Wai sub-divisional officer, Kumar Khaire, at the third edition of the high-level task force meeting in Mahabaleshwar in April, has found few takers. The meeting was organised by Pune-based Top Management Consortium (TMC).
The meeting was chaired by Pune divisional commissioner Dilip Band and was attended by Satara district collector Sambhaji Kadu-Patil, Kolhapur range inspector general Bhagwantrao More and president of the TMC, Bahri Malhotra, among others.
In his presentation, Khaire proposed two road bypass plans to decongest the busy Shivaji Chowk area in Panchgani. Khaire said that the first road would pass via Chessan Road (outside New Era School) and meet at Rashmi Chowk en route Mahabaleshwar. Khaire said that this road had been recently asphalted at a cost of Rs29 lakh and was fully operational.
According to Khaire, the second road bypass connecting Dandeghar village with Kachbavdi Naka near Sanjeevan Vidyalaya via Godavali village would be ready by May 31 at a cost of Rs59 lakh.
Reacting to the bypass plan in the meeting, assistant police inspector of the Panchgani police station, Jayram Paigude, categorically stated that there was no need for a road bypass plan for Panchgani.
He said that if the Shivaji Chowk was made a no-parking zone, he could easily ensure better flow of traffic. Paigude told DNA, “The main road is blocked by cars and scooters belonging to shopkeepers. When I had enforced the no-parking rule on an experimental basis for just one day, the difference was obvious.”
Former Panchgani municipal council president, Laxmi Karhadkar, was particularly upset about the plan on Chessan Road, because it went past four schools. “The New Era, Batha, Shalom and Pinewood schools are located on this road and heavy traffic on this road could prove hazardous to several hundred schoolchildren,” she said. Karhadkar backed Paigude’s no-parking suggestion at Shivaji Chowk. “Shopkeepers can easily park their cars and two-wheelers in the bylanes,” she said.
Corporate trainer and Panchgani resident Atul Mathur expressed unhappiness over the fact that the bypass roads were slated to pass through Chessan Road and Godavali Road. Mathur told DNA, “The few areas of quiet will now get disturbed in this hill station.”
Meanwhile, managing director of Mapro Foods, Mayur Vora, a masters in transportation and management from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, pointed out that the first bypass planned via Dandeghar village did not make sense, as the gradient was too steep and the road was too narrow near Dandeghar.
“The bypass would pass through two very small villages, causing inconvenience to villagers,” Vora said.
The deficiencies in the plans for the two bypasses were obvious when this correspondent travelled on both the roads. The road leading to Dandeghar village from the Wai-Panchgani Road was extremely steep for four-wheelers. Besides, it also passed through two very small villages. Chessan Road is also very narrow.
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