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Addl commissioner seeks fresh traffic management plan to curb accidents
Addl commissioner of police (eastern region) Manoj Patil visited Undri, Mohammadwadi, NIBM and Kondhwa areas on Thursday and instructed inspectors to take steps to ensure smooth traffic flow
PUNE Additional commissioner of police (eastern region) Manoj Patil visited Undri, Mohammadwadi, NIBM, and Kondhwa areas on Thursday and instructed police inspectors of the respective traffic divisions to take effective steps to decongest the area and ensure smooth traffic flow.
The move comes after repeated complaints from locals and the death of a 34-year-old dentist on January 8. The victim was knocked down by a truck near a furniture showroom in Kanadenagar on Undri Chowk-Saswad Road.
Patil directed the in-charges of Kondhwa and Kade Padal traffic divisions to collaborate with Pune Municipal Corporation’s (PMC) road engineering department on road planning and decongestion based on the civic body’s Development Plan (DP).
He also instructed the officials to write to PMC, urging them to address key issues such as encroachments, hawker removal, and the completion of pending road construction and repairs.
“We are conducting a detailed survey of all traffic bottlenecks and recurring causes of congestion and accidents in the area. The traffic divisions have been directed to prepare road safety plans aligned with the DP. Feedback from citizens will be actively incorporated to improve and maintain road safety standards,” he said.
However, residents remain sceptical about the effectiveness of these measures. Jaymala Dhankikar, director of NIBM Annexe Forum, criticized PMC and traffic police for failing to address long-standing road safety concerns. “Both PMC and traffic police are turning a blind eye to the issues raised by residents. We demand immediate action,” Dhankikar said.
The Mohammadwadi Undri Residents Welfare Development Foundation (MURWDF) highlighted in a recent complaint to the Chief Minister’s Office that Undri was merged under PMC in October 2017, yet the Development Plan for the area remains unapproved.
The petition detailed how dilapidated roads, including Undri Marg, Kad Nagar Chowk, Palace Orchard Road, and the road from Royal Heritage Mall to the Indian Oil petrol pump T-junction, have become “death traps” riddled with potholes and encroachments. The complaint noted that at Kad Nagar, electricity poles dangerously stand in the middle of widened roads, while illegal parking worsens the chaos.
Police inspector Santosh Sonawane, in charge of traffic for the area, assured action and said, “We will soon issue letters to PMC, urging road development in line with the DP. Simultaneously, we will take strict action against violators.”
