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Families near Navale Bridge shift to other areas to avoid ‘deadly stretch’
Over 100 families staying near the Navale Bridge to Dari Pul Bridge area have shifted to other places since past two years
It’s been a fearful experience for Ishwarlal Jha and his family to daily commute using the stretch along the Mumbai-Bengaluru highway near Navale Bridge Chowk that has seen regular accidents for over four years. The Jhas have moved to a house near Katraj Chowk on Satara Road to avoid travelling on the highway and its service roads and risk their lives.
According to residents living near the Navale Bridge area, over 100 families staying near the Navale Bridge to Dari Pul Bridge area have shifted to other places since past two years. Those who have not moved out are using longer routes for their daily travel to avoid the deadly track.
“I run a snack centre in peth area and was earlier staying in Narhe. We are a family of five and I had to daily go on bike using the bypass highway road or the service roads to reach my shop. Following a series of accidents on this stretch after the lockdown, my wife asked me to shift to another place. We were worried as used to go to school using the deadly road. Hence, we moved to another rented flat at Katraj Chowk in 2021,” said 42-year-old Ishwarlal.
The main areas surrounding the bypass highway stretch from Dari Pul Bridge to Navale Bridge Chowk are Narhe, Ambegaon Budruk and Wadgaon Budruk where many new residential housing societies have come up in the last ten years. As travelling from the highway is more convenient for citizens, they take the service or highway roads and most commuters are on two-wheelers.
The family of Sandesh Bhekare who were earlier staying at Ambegaon Budruk near the Swami Narayan Temple has shifted to Sinhgad Road.
“I was staying at a rented flat in Ambegaon Budruk area and used the bypass highway road for daily travel. However, the rise in mishaps on this stretch has forced me to buy a flat at Sinhgad Road and avoid the deadly stretch. I shifted with family to the new flat last month.”
Many residents from Narhe, Dhayari, Vadgaon Budruk and Warje areas have stopped using the bypass highway for travel.
“I daily used this road to go to office in the past, but have started taking the long route from inner lanes of Dhayari now to avoid the accident-prone stretch,” said Kishore Jagdale of Narhe area.
Ramesh Vidhate, secretary, Sinhagad Road Residents’ Forum, said, “Residents dread to use the road. As per our data information, till now over 100 families have shifted from the surrounding areas just to avoid this daily life threat. The state government and authorities should take up this issue on priority.”
