Residents demand reinstatement of two-way traffic on 2.8 km stretch of Dr Ambedkar Road
The said stretch has been closed for two-way traffic for the past three-and-a-half years due to metro construction work, causing hardship for area residents, students, shop owners as well as thousands of commuters from Khadki, Range Hills, Bopodi, Dapodi, Vishrantwadi and the surrounding areas
Citizens and politicians from Khadki and the adjoining areas have demanded that a 2.8 kilometre stretch of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Road be reopened for two-way traffic. The said stretch has been closed for two-way traffic for the past three-and-a-half years due to metro construction work, causing hardship for area residents, students, shop owners as well as thousands of commuters from Khadki, Range Hills, Bopodi, Dapodi, Vishrantwadi and the surrounding areas.
The stretch in question has been closed for two-way traffic due to work on a stretch of the old Mumbai-Pune Highway near Jai Hind theatre. The traffic from Bopodi towards Wakdewadi is diverted via Ambedkar Road in Khadki. Unless the work is completed, the 2.8 km stretch cannot be reopened for two-way traffic, according to Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) officials.
A couple of days ago, members of the Maha Vikas Aghadi Khadki Cantonment Board including members of different political parties, business owners, citizens and social workers met PMC additional commissioner Vikas Dhakane, requesting that the stretch be reopened for two-way traffic. The group, under the leadership of Mohan Joshi, vice-president, Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee, even threatened the PMC to reinstate the two-way traffic on the road till March 15 else they would hold a mass protest and rasta roko.
Tushar Gandhi, president, Khadki Vyapari Mahasangh, said, “It’s been over three years and we have given up hope as the civic body is least concerned about the citizens. For the past two-and-a-half years, we have been running from pillar to post for reinstatement of the two-way traffic on the road. Khadki has eight access roads of which only one road has been kept open. People are stuck for hours before they can reach their homes.”
Nijanand Palankar, a resident, said that given the traffic diversion and congestion, the students are the worst affected. “There is chaos near All Saints’ School and children have to literally struggle to enter and exit the school. Parents are petrified as any untoward incident can occur given the heavy traffic flow and chaos,” he said.
Bharat Singh Thakur, a member of the group that met Dhakane, said that business has been badly affected in Khadki market due to closure of the stretch for two-way traffic. “Despite several efforts, the development work on the old Mumbai-Pune Highway is moving at a snail’s pace and commuters on Dr Ambedkar Road are continuing to suffer. If the road is not opened for two-way traffic till March 15, we will hold a rasta roko protest,” he said.
Hemant Yadav, another resident, said that they have written to the PMC, Khadki Cantonment Board, Maha Metro and traffic police but to no avail. “The Maha Metro had written to the traffic police one-and-a-half years ago to open the road for two-way traffic but it still continues to be a one-way. The road is seeing traffic chaos ever since the stretch was converted into a one-way due to the Metro work,” he said.
Dhakane said that the road will be reopened for two-way traffic once work on the old Mumbai-Pune Highway is completed. “Now only a short stretch remains to be developed. Permissions from various departments and land acquisition issues held up the development work on this stretch of highway,” he said.
