Growth chokes Ghorpadi

When trains rumble through Ghorpadi,which happens very often as two busy railway corridors pass through this area,traffic virtually comes to a standstill. The traffic bottleneck was identified over a decade ago and a solution was also found. The idea to construct two railway overhead bridges was floated over a decade ago. Two Censuses have gone by,but the problem,which has grown manifold along with the rise in population,persists with the bridges nowhere to be seen.

The bridge project to allow vehicles to pass smoothly when trains cross their path has been “pending clearance of the the army’s sub-area command” for over 10 years. Pune Cantonment Board (PCB) executive engineer K V Shirodkar,said,”We have already given the no objection certificate (NOC) for the project,but clearance is pending from the army’s sub area. The clearance is required from the Defence Ministry as part of the land on which overhead bridges will come up is cantonment land as well as the bungalow area. Also some land for the project is collectors’ land.”

With the project being stuck,there have been consistent traffic blockades when trains pass through Ghorpadi to Delhi,Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh from the Pune Railway Station. “If you talk of problems,this one is the biggest for our area. When trains pass through,the railway gates are closed and traffic is halted. Traffic stoppage is frequent during the day. After every half hour,traffic stops when trains hit the track. Once these bridges come up,vehicles will pass even when the trains trundle along,” said cantonment board member,Santosh Kavade.

A Ghorpadi resident,Kishore Travdan,said,”We have been pressing for the construction of these bridges for a long time and since they are not coming,people face difficulties in reaching their places of work.” Kavade said that the project has been pending for over 10 years now even as the sites were also identified for it and the cost of the project had already been worked out.

“The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has to construct these two overhead bridges. One of the bridges is coming up near Anant Theatre and the other close to the market. The project cost,which has been worked out,is Rs 70 crore.”

PMC additional city engineer,Srinivas Bonala,however,said that the area is in the jurisdiction of the cantonment board and before the PMC starts any work,it needs to acquire land. “The cantonment board is better poised for a response,” he said.

Kavade,however,said that he has been raising the issue frequently in cantonment board meetings,but there has been no headway.

“I took up the issue with the previous president of the cantonment board and now that the president has changed and a new one has taken over,I plan to seek his time to express the concern of residents. Ours is a nearly 10,000 population,but every day,some 80,000 people pass through the area to factories and defence institutions located in the area. We can’t wish away the concern of such a large number of people.”

Rly crossings: Dividers needed to prevent ‘freeway’ chaos

Other than the heavy traffic entering Ghorpadi and moving out,what ails the area is also “unregulated thoroughfare”,with people “freely” crossing the median as there are no dividers to stop them. Citizens and traffic police feel the roads are not wide enough to allow this.

Ghorpadi is surrounded by Hadapsar,Mundhwa and the Southern Command headquarters. Railway crossings form an island on three approach roads. R S Sathe,assistant police inspector with Mundhwa division said,“On an average day,about 170 trains pass the crossings,blocking traffic for one-third of the day.”

Anyone not familiar with Ghorpadi would fail to understand why traffic jams continue after railway gates open. Manoj Patil,deputy commissioner of police (traffic control branch) explains,“No road where there is a crossing has a divider. In a bid to pass as soon as possible people cross the dividing line and cover the road. When gates open,vehicles block the roads on both sides. They need dividers.”

Another officer said,“At two places,defence establishments have gates which they close sometimes adding to traffic woes. Even if they want to close the gates for security reasons,people must be informed a couple of days in advance.”