While a narrow lane and thousands of students rushing to get into morning lectures has been a headache for residents living around MIT World Peace University, Kothrud for long, the matter has now come to a boiling point with local residential societies submitting a written complaint to traffic police, asking for their intervention.
Matters escalated on Tuesday when a truck broke down on the internal road leading to the university and the high influx of students in their two and four-wheelers, combined with reckless parking on both sides of the road, led to a traffic jam for several hours.
The affected residents of Girija society, Savli society, Yashashree society, Shiv Parvati society, Shilpa society and Sigma One, who live near the campus, said this was a daily headache. They finally had to call the traffic police on Tuesday. After a meeting with local police officers, the university administration is now considering providing a campus bus facility for the students.
Meanwhile, local residents alleged that the students arriving in four-wheelers are not allowed to park within the campus and hence, have to do so on either side of the road. However, the 2.5 to 3-km stretch from Badekar Ganpati Mandir to Sigma One society faces traffic jams as early as 8am, making it inconvenient for school buses and office-goers.
Pravin Joshi, secretary, Shiv Parvati society said, “I have been living in this area since 1980, before the MIT was set up. It is unfortunate that a reputed college where students pay such a high fee to study does not have provisions for parking for its students. As these students are not allowed to bring their four-wheelers inside the campus, they park them in front of our gates. When we ask them to move their vehicles as it obstructs our way, more often than not, we are met with rude and unruly behaviour from the students. They say that the roads are public property and they can do as they please. Yesterday, things took a turn for the worse as a truck broke down, resulting in a messy traffic situation. While traffic jams can happen any time, the students arriving in their own vehicles did not cooperate.”
“In fact, an ambulance for an elderly patient was unable to make its way through the traffic jam. Luckily, the medical emergency was small this time but are we waiting for a situation far worse for steps to be taken?” he said.
Shailesh Kolhe, secretary of Yashashree Society said instead of providing a parking space, the administration at MIT-WPU has asked its students to either use public transport or carpool. However, he said the real issue at hand is provision of parking space for students which is not being addressed.
“MIT-WPU has grown manifold over the years and so has their student intake. Yet, there is no provision for parking and students are forced to park outside. The students park their big four-wheelers on both sides of the road, disregarding traffic rules and the well-being of people living in the area. During breaks, they are often seen loitering around, smoking or idling around in their cars parked in front of our gates. We have senior citizens and children living with us and the situation becomes a bit awkward. When asked to park elsewhere, the students are impolite, sometimes resulting in heated arguments,” Kolhe said.
Bapu Shinde, Police Inspector of Traffic, Paud Phata Police Chowky said he had a meeting with the MIT-WPU registrar, Prashant Dave, on Wednesday.
“The campus had some seminar and events for some days that attracted a larger crowd. Yesterday, after a truck broke down the traffic issue became heightened. After having a word with the registrar, we wrote a letter to the college, asking them to provide parking inside the campus. We will depute our staff for patrolling, especially during the peak hours. We will also keep a look out for those violating rules of parking or parking in front of residential gates,” said Shinde.
Meanwhile Dave said that in recognition of the problem, a campus wide survey would be conducted.
“We will come up with bus facilities for both students and faculty. We are expecting to get the survey conducted by the weekend. We are an urban campus and we have only some space for parking for faculty and students. In fact, for some months we have been sensitising our students to opt for public transportation. We are looking into this idea of providing bus facilities and come up with probable pick up points post the survey to come to a long term solution to the problem. We do wish to have cordial relations with the residents living around our campus,” said Dave.
The affected residents of Girija society, Savli society, Yashashree society, Shiv Parvati society, Shilpa society and Sigma One, who live near the campus, said this was a daily headache. 
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