Chandrakant Patil to review traffic issue at Chandani Chowk

Pune guardian minister Chandrakant Patil will review the new bridge and underpasses at Chandani Chowk after ongoing traffic congestion issues.

After continuous traffic jams were reported even after the construction of the new bridge and underpasses at Chandani Chowk, the Pune guardian minister Chandrakant Patil will soon take a review of the project and give further instructions, said district administration officials on Monday.

Traffic seen at Chandani Chowk. (HT FILE PHOTO)

The new Chandani Chowk flyover bridge was inaugurated on August 12, over a month ago, and the traffic congestion scenario remains the same for daily commuters. During the morning and evening peak hours, there are long queues of vehicles seen every day at the Chandani Chowk due to which citizens have raised the issue of spending crores of rupees on this project and no relief given.

“We are continuously monitoring the situation at Chandani Chowk and certainly the traffic congestion issue must be solved. We will be soon taking a review of this entire project and accordingly further instructions will be given to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and Pune district administration to resolve the problems,” said Chandrakant Patil, Pune district guardian minister.

Talking about the issue NHAI Pune project director Sanjay Kadam said, “The newly inaugurated bridge is open for public since the inauguration but for some infrastructural or side-by-maintenance works it might be closed down for some time. Also, other finishing works at the Chowk is underway and the project is almost completed.”

While the daily travellers from Chandani Chowk are fed up of this traffic congestion issue. Nikhil Mahabaleshwarkar a commuter said, “Two days ago, it took me two hours to travel from Paud Road towards Sinhagad Road due to severe traffic congestion at Chandani Chowk. This entire Chowk has become a mess and there is no one to properly monitor or guide the vehicular traffic.”