The city witnessed unprecedented traffic jams all over as many thoroughfares were closed to provide smooth passage for palkhis of Sant Tukaram Maharaj and Sant Dnyaneshwar Maharaj on Monday. Though schools were closed early, office-goers were worst-hit and found themselves stranded for a long time due to the snarls.

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The trouble started since afternoon itself as the police started closing arterial roads for vehicular traffic to provide smooth passage to the warkaris reaching the city ahead of the palkhis.Closure of arterial roads and thoroughfares resulted in adding to the number of vehicles on narrow internal roads which soon became clogged. Roads like old Mumbai-Pune highway, Jungli Maharaj Road, Fergusson College Road, Laxmi Road, Tilak Road Shivaji Road, Bajirao Road and Lal Bahadur Shastri Road were closed for traffic.

Major snarls were witnessed on Ganeshkhind Road, Senapati Bapat Road, Karve Road and Sinhagad Road due to the added number of vehicles.

Sagar Jagtap (35) said anticipating commuting problems, he left his office on Jungli Maharaj Road as early as 4 pm on Monday, but still found himself stuck in a snarl.

He said, ”I finished my work early on Monday and left for Vishrantwadi where I live. But by then the Fergusson College Road and Jungli Maharaj Road had been closed for traffic. I kept on trying internal roads but all roads were clogged.”

Sarika Pawar (31), a resident of Sangvi, found herself stuck on Senapati Bapat Road for more than an hour. She said, ”I had been to Kothrud area for personal work. I left early for home as I had to buy medicines for my mother-in-law and cook once I reached home. But I got stuck in a traffic jam. It took me an hour to reach Chatuhshrungi from Kothrud and I don’t know how longer it will take me to reach home.”

The traffic police had deployed 1,000 personnel on roads to deal with the situation but they found themselves unable to streamline the flow of traffic.

Deputy commissioner of police Vishwas Pandhare said, ”We are trying our best to manage the traffic situation. Some inconvenience is unavoidable. Lakhs of pilgrims are in the city and we need to provide a smooth passage for the palkhis. The situation has been aggravating because people are jumping lanes in a bid to push themselves ahead and blocking the entire road in the process.”

By 9 pm, the traffic in the city was back to normal. After the warkaris went ahead, the roads that had been closed were thrown open to traffic.

Relax, no traffic diversion today

Though there will be no closure of roads in the city on Tuesday for movement of palkhis, traffic congestion is expected in some downtown areas, especially on the roads in Bhavani Peth and Nana Peth areas as large number of devotees would throng the area for darshan.

The palkhis of Sant Dnyaneshwar Maharaj and Sant Tukaram Maharaj will be resting in Pune on Tuesday. The palkhi of Sant Dnyaneshwar Maharaj is camping at Palkhi Vithoba Temple while the palkhi of Sant Tukaram Maharaj is camping at Nivdungya Vithoba Temple. Inspector (planning) Rangarao Kamire from traffic police said, “There will be no diversion of traffic on city roads on Tuesday as palkhis will not be on the roads. The palkhis will move towards Hadapsar on Wednesday.”