Puneites stuck in traffic jams

Puneites hit the road on Wednesday morning as usual without knowing that Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) driver Santosh Mane was going to create ruckus on the streets.

Hundreds of office goers were stuck in  traffic jams after Mane damaged the vehicles in Swargate, Camp, and Bhavani Peth areas on Wednesday morning. Initially, there was havoc in the busy area of Swargate and people thought that it was a terror attack, but later, police commissioner Meeran Chadha Borwankar made it clear that it was not a terror attack.

Swargate is the one of the busiest areas in the city and many commuters from all parts of the city were heading towards Swargate from early morning on Wednesday. However, Mane had already started his bus ride in the nearby area damaging two-wheelers, four-wheelers, rickshaws, buses and even handcarts. The damaged vehicles remained on the roads due to which huge traffic jams were witnessed in areas like Swargate, MG Road, Tilak Road, Bajirao Road and Bhavani Peth. People stuck in traffic jams were totally unaware of the incident.

Sujit Tekade, one of the commuters stuck in the traffic, said, “I was going towards Market Yard from Tilak Road, but for a long time I could not move my bike even an inch. I was unaware of the incident but seeing the policemen blocking the roads, I could guess that it was something serious.’’

The traffic police deployed additional staff in the area to divert the traffic and it also brought the cranes to displace the damaged vehicles. Meanwhile, fire brigade was also called for assistance. Chief fire officer Prashant Ranpise said, “We got a call that a ST bus is on fire and we immediately sent a water tanker to the spot. Later, we started getting calls informing about the damaged vehicles lying on the roads. We even sent our ambulances to take victims to the hospitals.’’