Guests at wedding lawns between Ganga Dham and Shatrunjay Temple Road add to traffic congestion
To the extent that locals have now lodged a complaint with the Pune traffic police, demanding action against the errant wedding guests
In the past few years, many big residential societies have come up along the Ganga Dham to Shatrunjay Temple Road stretch in Kondhwa leading to daily traffic jams in the area. And now, guests at various wedding lawns located on this stretch are adding to the chaos by parking their vehicles haphazardly, especially in the evenings. Saturday night saw a massive logjam that refused to clear till midnight exactly for the same reason. To the extent that locals have now lodged a complaint with the Pune traffic police, demanding action against the errant wedding guests.
Atul Jain, a local and a member of the Kondhwa Development Forum, said, “We are fed up of the daily traffic jams on this road. Not only has the road been encroached by hawkers, the municipality is carrying on some roadworks as well. And now, various wedding lawns are causing traffic congestion, especially at night when the guests arrive in their cars. We have complained about the same to the Pune traffic police department several times but no firm action has been taken till now.”
Another local Bipin Gandhi, said, “Returning home during the evening peak hours is a nightmare for us. Many a time, I wait in the office till late evening and then return home. Unnecessarily, we have to inhale the polluted air and bear with the traffic jams on this road. Besides, it is risky for children and elderly people.”
Meanwhile, the management of some of the wedding lawns has deployed security guards for monitoring the traffic. A wedding lawn manager said on condition of anonymity, “We are taking precautions from our side that the vehicles belonging to our guests do not lead to traffic jams. Hence, we have kept security guards to monitor the outside traffic. However, with so many vehicles passing through this road, it leads to congestion anyway.”
Deputy commissioner of police/DCP (traffic) Amol Zende said, “We have deployed traffic police during peak hours along this road to monitor the traffic and clear congestion. Still, we will again carry out a survey and check about traffic congestion due to weddings. Accordingly, further action will be taken.”