Urbanising the Laxmi Road chaos for Pune's life

One of the busiest roads in the city, Laxmi Road has seen the crowd swell with every passing year. Add to that the traffic, parking and redevelopment woes. While we do not have an imminent solution, there is a group of students who have taken it upon themselves to find one. Compiling a research and study taking into account aspects like history, current issues and measures needed to make Laxmi Road a better urban space, the students of Padmabhushan Vasantdada Patil College of Architecture, have come up with an exhibition. Open to all, the exhibition is a reflection of the students’ intention to take their research to citizens, institutions and traders.

The exhibition titled ‘Laxmi Road – Pune’s lifeline on the edge’ was inaugurated by Mahesh Pathak, Pune municipal commissioner. It is open to the public between June 22 and 26, 10 am to 8 pm, at Vishrambaug Wada. A work by the fourth year Bachelor of Architecture students, the project documents and studies Laxmi Road as part of their Urban Design Studio programme in April-May 2012.

Student co-ordinator of the exhibition, Ashik Jain said, “The studies were carried out to highlight Laxmi Road’s importance as a prime commercial street and connector in the old city area. The study eventually culminated into conceptual proposals by students with the guidance of the faculty.” Interestingly, there are speculations that the project might turn into reality, for there are chances that it will be picked up by the authorities.

As part of the study, Jain said that the entire stretch of the road was divided into eight broad parts. He said that the parts were given to eight different groups of students, with each group covering aspects like daily and annual activity patterns, public transport connectivity, traffic issues, types of shops, hawkers and their locations, parking areas, open spaces and there use, population density etc.

Speaking about the exhibition at length, principal of the college, Prasanna Desai, said, “Laxmi Road has a history of over 100 years. It is mainly famous for clothes and jewellery shopping. But what people often forget that it is also a residential area for many.” He added that the exhibition will show a proposed plan of how to develop Laxmi Road both as a commercial as well as residential area. Also on the radar are the public transport and hence the accessibility of area from different parts of the city.

Desai said the students have tried to draw a distinction between the upcoming mall culture and Laxmi Road as a shopping destination. “Studies have been undertaken to see the comfort that a mall enjoys in comparison to Laxmi Road and why is it that people prefer going to malls. We realised it happens because of the connectivity issue. Owing to the narrow lanes, lack of place to walk or sit and the traffic issues, the shopping experience of the people and the business of the vendors and shopkeeper is hampered. It’s a vicious circle,” he said. The exhibition proposes an idea of having a counter parking in a place adjoining Laxmi Road.