Highway nightmare not over

PUNE, Nov 17: Motorists on the Mumbai-Pune highway continued to face hardships on the second consecutive day on Wednesday due to the 43-h...

PUNE, Nov 17: Motorists on the Mumbai-Pune highway continued to face hardships on the second consecutive day on Wednesday due to the 43-hour long snarl which started following the collision of a jeep and a State Transport bus at Karla.

Even as all efforts by the police to streamline the traffic failed, the stranded vehicles had queued up on a 30 km long stretch of the highway between Khopoli and Kamshet till late evening.

In a desperate move to deal with the problem, the Pune rural police resorted to requesting motorists to refrain from overtaking. Two police vehicles equipped with public addressing system were pressed into service for the purpose. However, the chaos continued as the motorists refused to take any heed of the appeals.

The Pune rural police personnel and their counterparts from the State Traffic wing, who were summoned from the neighbouring towns of Lonavla, Talegaon Dabhade, Dehu Road soon after the chaos started on Monday night, watched helplessly as the motorists continued to block the entire highway in attempts to inch ahead.

The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation MSRTC authorities cancelled several trips of the State Transport buses plying between Mumbai and Pune on Wednesday also.

The MSRTC officials said 82 ordinary buses and 78 deluxe buses of the State Transport ST left Pune for Mumbai every day. However, they added, only 20 ordinary buses and 11 Asiad buses left for Mumbai on Wednesday.

Most buses were taking 15 to 16 hours to reach Pune from Mumbai. The ST buses, which left Mumbai around 5.30 am, had not reached Pune till 7 pm.

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More than 40 taxies leave Pune for Mumbai per day. However, sources from the Mumbai-Pune taxi centre said, only ten taxies left for Mumbai on Wednesday. Most of the taxies plying on the highway were stranded in the queue, they added.

Vehicular traffic on the highway had come to a standstill for over 16 hours after a ST bus collided head on with a jeep near Karla around 9 pm on Monday. The stranded vehicles started moving at a snail8217;s pace due to the congestion even after the bus and the jeep were towed away. However, chaos ensued as motorists started trying to overtake each other.