Pune: As many as 1000 commuters from Vishrantwadi are facing serious issues like being run over by speeding vehicles at Vishrantwadi chowk as the lift of Rs 10 crore skywalk has developed a technical snag and remained non functional since the second day of inauguration in the first week of July. The chowk has witnessed eight serious accidents which claimed lives of three persons during past two years.
The ambitious skywalk project was initiated with the aim of decongest traffic scenario in Vishrantwadi. The said skywalk took around two years to complete. With the construction of Bus Rapid Transport (BRT), traffic situation worsened over the past six months leading to chaos and breakdowns during the mornings and evenings. According to the data available with the city traffic department, around a 1000 people use the skywalk to reach the two sides of Vishrantwadi.
Pune Municipal Corporation had made it clear that the skywalk was meant for residents in the locality and pedestrians as crossing the Alandi road on foot was dangerous, taking into the high speed nature of the BRT corridor.
Parag Potdar, an IT professional and resident of Vishrantwadi road said that crossing the road has become a nightmarish experience and there is a fear of accidents and subsequent fatalities. "The BRT corridor has become super fast and it is dangerous for the residents to cross the road on foot. Surprisingly, the skywalk lift has developed a snag from the day one of its inauguration. It is our demand to repair the lift at the earliest ," he added.
Sameer Gaikwad, a social worker from Dhanori road said that the residents especially senior citizens were facing a tough time in the wake of lift failure. "They usually step out in evenings and mornings for buying vegetable and groceries. Crossing road on foot is impossible as four wheelers move at high speeds. If the PMC authorities fail to carry out the repairs in a weeks time, we will be forced to lodge a police complaint related to negligence against them, " he said.
Three persons , all pedestrians were killed after being run over by speeding heavy vehicles on the road. A senior citizen was crushed to death near Alandi road police chowki by a speeding container, six months ago.
Additional City Engineer Vivek Kharwadkar when contacted said that he would personally look into the matter and conduct an inquiry into the incident. Raising an alarm over the development, DCP ( Traffic ) Vishwas Pandhre said that the PMC should immediately restore the lift as citizens lives cannot be put at stake by the civic body.
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