Joining forces to get rid of roadblocks

Of late Pimpri-Chinchwad had been earning notoriety for traffic chaos,with the civic administration and the traffic police failing to act decisively to ensure proper traffic arrangements in town. The decision of the civic body and the traffic police to team up was taken at a meeting between the traffic police and PCMC last week.

Former municipal commissioner Asheesh Sharma had in fact put in place a traffic cell but it ended up taking flak from corporators,activists and citizens who said it did little to ensure smooth traffic.

The new civic chief,Dr Shrikar Pardeshi seems to have taken up the issue in all seriousness,officials said.

“If PCMC and traffic police have come together,then there is some hope for the traffic-hassled citizens,” said Suresh Pujari,a resident of Pradhikaran.

When contacted,Deputy Commissioner of Police Vishwas Pandhare said they have started looking into the traffic problems and would come up with a proper plan. Dr Pardeshi echoed the view.

A Newsline team that criss-crossed town on Tuesday and Wednesday found traffic chaos either remaining unchanged over the past few months at some places or having turned worse. The team interacted with citizens for their views.

Here’s a first-hand account of the traffic scenario at some of the trouble spots.

PIMPRI CAMP: “The more things change here,the more they remain the same,” said activist D G Baliga summing up the situation here. A couple of years back,two-way traffic was banned in Pimpri camp.

Traffic exited from River Road to emerge on the Pimpri-Chinchwad Link Road. Former municipal commissioner Dilip Band had put his best foot forward and hammered down illegal extensions of shops that had captured footpaths and much of the road on either side.

These measures had brought some relief for motorists,two-wheeler riders and pedestrians.

There is still much to be done. “The River Road is becoming narrower by the day with vehicles parked indiscriminately and shopkeepers and vendors grabbing road width. There is need for strong action to allow smooth traffic flow,” said Baliga.

At the point where the River Road ends on Link Road,there is a traffic jam every 10 minutes. “Traffic cops are rarely seen here. Most of the time they are on the bridge trying to catch god knows whom,” said Raja K,a citizen of Pimpri.

BHOSARI: Right under the newly-constructed bridge,vehicles are parked indiscriminately and handcarts and vendors make their presence felt.

The road is in bad shape. Vehicles from Bhosari-Alandi Road and those from Landewadi and Indrayani Nagar land at PMT chowk in Bhosari.

Only those heading for Nashik and Moshi use the overbridge. Vegetable and fruit vendors occupy space in and around the chowk.

Besides,PMPML buses either terminate here or have two bus-stops. Pedestrian movement is heavy with people walking to Alandi side,Landewadi or Indrayani Nagar area.

“Throughout the day,Bhosari chowk is in a traffic mess,” said Sachin Godambe,a resident of Dhavde vasti in Bhosari.

“We thought once the overbridge is constructed,Bhosari’s traffic problems would disappear,but they have remained unchanged.”

The Bhosari-Alandi road where a few constructions were demolished some time back to widen it has a heavy traffic burden from dawn to dusk.

Local civic activists say this road needs to be widened for future traffic requirements.

NIGDI: Traffic snarls are perennial on the stretch of road from Bhakti Shakti to Nigdi flyover. In spite of a flyover,traffic remains slow. Traffic moves in all directions. The presence of a PMPML bus-stop right on the road,and a rickshaw stand,besides the road being narrow make it an everyday struggle for vehicles.

GURAV PIMPLE-KASARWADI ROAD: This is the most dangerous stretch of the lot.

Traffic gets stuck right on the railway track as the road through Kasarwadi is too narrow to take heavy vehicles.

Despite several close shaves,neither the PCMC nor the traffic police has been able to find a solution. “I think only when a bigger tragedy occurs will the traffic police and railway officials wake up,” said a resident Jayant Kariya,expressing anger.

He said,“A simple solution is to ban traffic from Kasarwadi to Gurav Pimple and vice-versa. This traffic can use the Shankarwadi route or the Phugewadi overbridge. Why put hundreds of lives to risk?”

CHINCHWADGAON: Although the flyover has eased regular jams here,Chapekar chowk continues to be a traffic bottleneck,the presence of the market and vendors on the street being major impediments to smooth traffic.

OTHER AREAS: The Kalewadi-Thergaon Road,the Dange chowk,the road from Gurav Pimple to Rahati and Kalewadi,and the Indrayani Nagar chowk have regular jams.

Activists believe an effective plan is required to ensure traffic discipline.

“The Kalewadi-Thergaon Road,where widening work is on is probably the most chaotic in Pimpri-Chinchwad. It would greatly help if encroachers on both sides are removed,” said Shridhar Thampa,a physical education teacher.

‘Missing doors of women’s toilet blocks,delayed action a shame’

Politicians including the former mayor have joined citizens in reacting with outrage to the delay by PCMC officials in installing doors of women’s public toilet blocks stolen by miscreants in Kasarwadi allegedly at the behest of owners of nearby chawls wanting to evict their tenants. PCMC officials took its own time to fix the doors evoking anger among people.

Former mayor Mangala Kadam,currently the NCP House leader in the PCMC reacted angrily to the PCMC’s insensitivity to a serious issue affecting women living in chawls.

“Stealing doors of the women’s toilet blocks is shameful. PCMC officials rubbed salt into the residents’ wounds by taking their own time. The PCMC apparently took more than six days to fix the doors,after which the women started using toilets regularly. Just imagine the women’s plight,” she said.

Kadam said if she had been informed earlier,she would have asked officials to first fix the doors and then go after the culprits. “Even a day’s delay in fixing the doors of the women’s public toilet blocks was unimaginable. And PCMC officials took more than six days. It’s a matter of shame. The PCMC chief should act against these officials,” she said.

Shiv Sena leader Shrirang Barne said,“What else do you expect from an inefficient administration. I will take up the issue in the civic general body. I will ask the mayor whether this is how PCMC treats womenfolk.”

What has dented PCMC’s image further is the fact that one person caught in connection with the theft happens to be a PCMC employee who stays in Kasarwadi. “I don’t know how to react…Despite being a PCMC employee receiving a good salary,I don’t know why he did this,” said PCMC sanitation chief R B Chavan. Local corporator Kiran Mote said the person is connected to some local politicians and chawl owners.

“The real culprits behind this are the landlords. They want to evict the chawls through such acts. They have resorted to targeting women in this manner,which is highly condemnable,” Mote said.

The police said they were trying to find out whom the “thief” is associated with and whether he committed the act at somebody’s behest.

The PCMC had lodged an FIR. The doors of the toilet blocks had been stolen earlier too,but this is the first time the PCMC has approached police. “I have directed that an FIR be filed in such cases,” said Municipal Commissioner Dr Shrikar Pardeshi,who has taken a serious view of the matter.

The PCMC sanitation chief said that by Wednesday afternoon,all the doors of the toilets had been fixed. “We have used better quality doors. We are also going to appoint a watchman who will be a local resident so that the doors are not stolen again,” he said.

Jayshree Marale,a former civic school principal and a long-time resident of Kasarwadi said the incident shows how society had turned insensitive towards women. “Landlords are targeting women,PCMC takes its own time to act. This is regrettable.” Another local resident Avinash Prasad said the condition of the double-storey public toilet remains pathetic all the time. “But the doors going missing is highly reprehensible,” he said.