The traffic police had banned the right turn for vehicles coming from Swargate to Kondhwa in October last year. Dna gives you the ground reality about the problems being faced by commuters including increase in the travel distance, more fuel consumption and eventually ending up spending more time in traffic snarls.
Pune: In order to decongest the Golibar Maidan chowk, the traffic police has banned the right turn for vehicles coming from Swargate to Kondhwa. However, instead of proving useful this move is causing immense inconvenience to the commuters as they are losing nearly half an hour due to the extra mile they have to travel to reach their destination.
This is not the only stretch where the traffic police has banned right turns for vehicles. There are several other junctions where citizens are spending more time in the traffic instead of getting out of the congested chowks.
Team dna visited the Golibar Maidan junction for a reality check and found that the commuters travelling from Swargate towards Kondhwa have to travel nearly one km extra and take a round of Mahatma Gandhi bus stand near Solapur Bazar before they finally hit the NIBM Road. In October last year, the traffic police had closed the right turn from Golibar Maidan to Kondhwa.
Before implementing the order, the traffic police had received over 1,000 suggestions and objections where citizens had strongly opposed this move. Some political parties went ahead demonstrating against the decision, however, the traffic police did not revert their decision.
The commuters who have to travel on this route on daily basis have been facing a tough time as they are caught in the traffic snarls for more than 30 minutes during the peak hours. Majority of them face the issue towards the evening when they have to go back to their homes.
Syed Salman (38)a , resident of Kondhwa said, "There is not a single day when I do not get stuck in the traffic snarl for more than 30 minutes. There was no need to close the right turn as the traffic flow at this junction was smooth."
Phani Bhushan (35), a resident of NIBM said, "It is a nightmare to take the route from Swargate to Kondhwa, as we have to take a U-turn which is unnecessary and spend more time and fuel. Moreover, due to the narrow road there is very less space left for smooth vehicular movement."
Undri resident Anshuman Khalko (31) said, "It is a waste of time and fuel to take a long way and come back again to the same junction as I cannot take a right turn. The traffic department should have spoke to the commuters and taken their views once the right turn was closed."
In the meanwhile, the city traffic department claim that the changes were made for smooth vehicular movement.
Deputy Commissioner of police (traffic), Vishwas Pandhare said, "The right turn was closed as per the traffic management so that we can have a queue system which makes the vehicular movement smooth and result in decongestion of traffic."
"Commuters can take alternative route and take a right turn from the Seven Loves chowk and go to Kondhwa. There is not a single accident that has been reported since the right turn was closed for traffic," he added.
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