E-Paper
32 years later, PMC completes road widening at Mundhwa-Keshavnagar junction in 24 hrs
The road department of the PMC removed all encroachments, completed the pending land acquisition work, and constructed a 24-metre-wide, good quality road
Road widening at the Mundhwa-Keshavnagar junction – which had been pending for the last 32 years – was completed in a matter of 24 hours by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) road department Friday night. The road department of the PMC removed all encroachments, completed the pending land acquisition work, and constructed a 24-metre-wide, good quality road amid police bandobast. For the past three decades, the PMC had been under fire for failing to provide area residents a road that was rightfully theirs.
Additional commissioner Vikas Dhakane said, “We carried out a detailed study of the issue and worked on a solution for the past two months. A meeting with all stakeholders including locals and police was held to go ahead with the project.”
“The road issue has been pending for several years due to pending land acquisition near Mundhwa-Keshavnagar Chowk. Hereon, commuters travelling from Hadapsar to Ahmednagar Road and vice-versa will not have to face bottlenecks,” Dhakane said.
Area resident Sandeep Patil said, “We appreciate the road department for completing work that has been pending for the last 32 years in just 24 hours. The PMC has been very lethargic over the years but faced with criticism on social media and from civil society, it is taking steps in the larger interests of people. The congestion will now be a thing of the past for all the commuters.”
The road in question begins at Hadapsar railway overbridge and ends at Mundhwa-Keshavnagar traffic junction, extending further till the river bridge. More than 10,000 two- and four- wheelers and other types of vehicles (multi-axle etc.) pass through it daily. Sanctioned as a 24-metre-wide road in the development plan (DP), the width of the carriageway had been reduced to 14 to 18 metres in places, resulting in acute traffic congestion almost daily. A number of heavy vehicles coming from Hadapsar and from Ahmednagar Road (towards Hadapsar) would get stuck at the junction. Commuters headed in either direction would struggle to reach their destination. The road is also connected to the Solapur and Ahmednagar highway. While land acquisition had been initiated in 1992, some portions of the road remained narrow due to pending land acquisition. Also, there were encroachments, illegal stalls, dumping of gravel, illegal sheds, fencing walls and public toilets that further reduced the carriageway, adding to the traffic chaos.
Also present during the road widening work were road department executive engineer Sahebrao Dandge, executive engineer Sandeep Ranavare, Mundhwa regional ward officer Balasaheb Dhawale Patil, and Mundhwa police station in-charge Vishnu Tamhane.
