Walkers’ Park

As per the decision,no vehicles will be allowed on the 600 metre stretch between Ganapati Chowk and Shagun Chowk between 9 am and 9 pm on Saturdays and Sundays. Authorities will review the situation after a month of experimentation and take a final decision on whether to continue it. An arrangement for parking has been made between Belbag Chowk and Ganpati Chowk,while an alternate route has been allocated for PMPML buses that ply at the rate of 70 buses per hour carrying more than 50,000 passengers daily on the route.

The PMC had given the nod to the scheme before Diwali,but the implementation was postponed following apprehensions from traders. Vishwas Pandhare,deputy commissioner of police (traffic),said,“In the meeting with shopkeepers,they had agreed to the idea in principle but had asked us to do it after Diwali vacations. Along with reserving a patch for parking on the road,we have also allocated space for two-wheelers at other parking lots along with the one at Mandai.”

Shrinivas Bonala,city engineer with PMC and Sunil Gawali,traffic manager with PMPML were present during the visit. The alternate route for PMPML buses has been allocated from Rameshwar Chowk,Shanipar,Mandai,Shanipar and Nagnath Par. Bonala said,“Our ward officer and the encroachment team were present during the visit. All encroachments will be taken care of .”

Gawali told Newsline,“The traffic police have assured us that they will declare a no-parking zone between Shanipar and Nagnath Par as the road width is not enough.” Prashant Inamdar of Pedestrian First said,“We understand the doubts of the traders,as Laxmi road is one of important shopping zone and this was not tried before. But world over,it has been observed that no-vehicle zones have benefited the traders as customer tend to spend more time in the area when on foot.”