Nashik Phata chowk: On Thursday traffic cops act, on Friday they don’t

At the chaotic Nashik Phata chowk — which links the Pune-Mumbai highway and the Pune-Nashik highway, the traffic police finally woke up on Thursday. It put up barricades on the Pune-Nashik highway stretch where three-seaters and five-seaters make a mess of the road, creating traffic snarls and putting commuters’ life under threat. Barricades were also put on the Pune-Mumbai highway stretch near Sagar Corner building which has turned out to be one of the most dangerous spots on the highway.

To cut a long story short, Thursday was the day when there was less chaos at the Nashik Phata chowk where on Wednesday a woman’s wrist was broken after a two-wheeler rider, blinded by the indiscriminate movement of five-seater and three-seater autorickshaws, ran into her. However, on Friday, the Nashik Phata chowk was back to its chaotic best. The barricades were pushed deep inside on the Nashik highway stretch. And in front of the Sagar Corner building, a maze of private cars and jeeps continued to make indiscriminate movement, affecting the flow of traffic on the Pune-Mumbai highway. And where were the traffic policemen and the wardens? They were as invisible they could get. “This has been the story over the years. Right in front of the traffic police, any vehicle can park anywhere, anytime but they won’t act. In front of the Sagar Corner building right up to the highway vehicles are parked, not only the traffic on the arterial road, but also on the highway is seriously affected,” says Sanjay Shah, a local resident.

Thursday’s action was carried out by the police at the directives of Deputy Commissioner of Police (traffic) Manoj Patil following a Newsline report highlighting the chaotic conditions at the chowk were accidents have become regular. But local residents point out that Patil’s men have done a half-hearted job. “Can’t it be possible for the DCP to ban parking on the entire stretch of the chowk as the traffic is getting affected and citizen’s lives are under threat?,” asks Anna Rakshe, a local businessman.

While the traffic policemen at least showed readiness to act, officials of the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation remained unmoved. No official turned up to inspect the chatoic chowk. When contacted, Municipal Commissioner Asheesh Sharma said that he was on an election related duty in Jammu and Additional Municipal Commissioner Subhash Dumbare will look into the matter. When contacted, Dumbare said he had no idea of the issue and will examine it before replying. PCMC city engineer Eknath Ugile said he will speak to DCP Patil and then decide on putting no parking boards in the chowk. “Not today…give us some time, we will ban all parking at the chowk,”he said.