Pune Beat

Pune-Mumbai traffic stuck in highway jamVehicular traffic on the busy Pune-Mumbai highway was thrown out of gear for two consecutive days, o...

Pune-Mumbai traffic stuck in highway jam
Vehicular traffic on the busy Pune-Mumbai highway was thrown out of gear for two consecutive days, on Tuesday and Wednesday, causing acute discomfort and frustration to motorists and passengers headed both ways.

While it was the skidding of a heavy container at Mundhavare village near Lonavla which brought the traffic to a standstill for more than ten hours on Wednesday, it was the engine failure of a luxury bus that impeded the movement of vehicles for more than three hours on Wednesday.

The incidents caused a lot of torment for passengers as hundreds of vehicles were caught in the consequent traffic jam. State Transport buses were running 10 to 11 hours behind schedule, informed an ST official. When contacted, the ST officials at the Pune-Dadar Asiad bus stand informed this newspaper that the Asiad service was way off schedule due to traffic jams.

Three Asiad buses which left Dadar between 7-8 in the morning arrived late in the evening and the passengers were totally exhausted from the journey. Similarly, the buses which left for Dadar in the morning, have not yet arrived, he said.

According to the State Traffic Branch, the rear wheels of a heavy container slipped off at Mundhavare village near Karle Phata on Pune-Mumbai road, about nine kilometers away from Lonavla on Tuesday morning. The incident took place at about 9.45 a.m., following which the two-way traffic on the busy road came to a stand still.

A crane from Khandala was immediately pressed into service to remove the container off the road. However, the efforts of the officials of the State Traffic Branch did not yield any results as the crane was not able to move the container till 3.00 p.m. Later in the evening, another crane brought from Pune was pressed into service and one-way movement was restored by about 8.00 p.m.

Even as the traffic was being restored to normalcy, the engine of a luxury bus failed near Kamshet this morning at about 11.30a.m., said traffic branch officials. This once again resulted in blocking of the traffic and the vehicles had queued up till Talegaon. The road was finally cleared by about 4.00 p.m. and slowly the traffic is being restored to normalcy, informed the State Traffic Branch.

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2 killed in mishap
Two persons died in an accident when a truck collided with a jeep at Somatane Phata on Pune-Mumbai Road on Tuesday morning. Talegaon Dabhade police have arrested a truck driver in connection with the mishap.

The accident took place at about 8.30 a.m. when, a Mumbai-bound truck MH-O4/P-6835 collided head on with a jeep MH-12/P-9583 which was coming from the opposite direction at Somatane Phata on Pune-Mumbai Road. Two persons 8211; Balasaheb Barane and Babanrao Argade 8211; who were travelling in the jeep died on the spot . The police have arrested truck driver Tanaji Kolekar.

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