Ganeshotsav 2012: Night curbs on Pune traffic throughout fest

The Pune police is planning to ban vehicles at night on roads in downtown parts of the city throughout the Ganesh festival. Police commissioner Gulabrao Pol said formal orders in this regard will be issued in a couple of days.

Every year, these curbs on vehicles are imposed after the seventh day of the festival. The aim is to provide a smooth passage for people watching the pandal decorations. Imposing the curbs from day 1 of the festival aims at reducing the massive rush on the roads seen during the last few days of the festival.

Arterial roads, lanes and bylanes in downtown parts of the city are crowded as people hit the streets in large numbers to watch decorations put up at pandals.

The police close the roads and introduce one-way systems for pedestrians in downtown parts of the city  to ensure the safety of citizens.

According to Pol, “Devotees not only from Pune, but various parts of Maharashtra and even foreign countries flock to Pune during the Ganesh festival. This makes the situation tough for the police, who have to control the mob and at the same time regulate the traffic flow. To overcome this problem, we have planned to close some roads in downtown parts of the city, especially in the vicinity of Laxmi Road, for vehicular traffic at night time. If people are not able to walk on these busy roads, how can the vehicles ply on them?”

He added, “A spurt in petty crimes such as pick-pocketing, chain snatching and eve-teasing are noticed during the festival. We would be roping in collegians, who have volunteered to help us during the festival, to manage the flow of traffic and control the crowds so that we can concentrate more efficiently on other aspects of security.”