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Parking arrangements announced for Ganesh devotees in Pune
Pune traffic department has prohibited parking of vehicles on roads and identified parking areas to be used during Ganesh festival
PUNE To avoid traffic congestion and inconvenience to commuters during the ongoing festive season, the Pune traffic department has prohibited parking of vehicles on the roads and identified 19 parking areas which can be used between September 4 and September 8.
In addition to that, Pune city traffic department has identified 18 parking lots which can be used on Visarjan day on September 9 and also on September 10 (see graphic).
After Gauri Visarjan on September 5 people along with their family visit pandals and so to keep a check on the crowd and control traffic police have made parking arrangements.
Deputy commissioner of police (traffic) Rahul Shrirame said, “Considering heavy footfall on roads we have made a traffic plan and identified 19 parking areas across the city. For Ganesh Visarjan procession, we have identified 18 parking spots so that people can park their vehicles at the respective parking areas and enjoy the festivities without any hurdles.”
“Devotees should park their vehicles at the designated parking areas and cooperate with us. They should follow rules, regulations and guidelines to maintain law and order in the city,” he said.
As per tradition, the five Manache Ganpati mandals will take out processions from Laxmi road on September 9 and this year there will be no restrictions on timings for immersion of the idols. The roads which will remain closed for traffic include Laxmi road, Kelkar road, Kumthekar road, Tilak road, Shastri road, Bagade road, Bajirao road, Ganesh road, Gurunanak road and JM road.
Parking of vehicles will also be prohibited on internal roads connecting these major roads during the immersion period, said officials.
The traffic police will erect watch towers at strategic places for monitoring and regulating the traffic flow during Ganapati processions. Arrangements have been made for barricading important roads to segregate the processions from other members of the public for safety purposes. Police cranes will be stationed at strategic locations to handle contingencies in the event of breakdown of vehicles.
Apart from these, separate, temporary traffic regulations and diversions will also be put in place. There will be no vehicular traffic I on Shivaji road between Premium Garage chowk and Gotiram Bhaiya chowk, Dengle bridge, and between the old godown and Annabhau Sathe chowk at Shivajinagar. Citizens are advised to take the alternative road between Santaji Ghorpade road and Shahir Amar Shaikh chowk.
The number of mandals celebrating the festival this year is close to the pre-pandemic level as the city is celebrating Ganeshotsav after a two-year gap. This year, there will be 3,566 Ganesh mandals celebrating the festival against 3,800 in 2019 and 2,163 in 2020.
