Police drive to ease congestion along Pune-Nashik highway

Pune: In order to reduce traffic congestion on Pune-Nashik Highway (NH-50), the Pune rural police conducted a special anti-encroachment drive on Thursday and Friday with the civic authorities at Rajgurunagar, about 45km from here.

As many as 200 illegal roadside stalls were removed, making extra space for vehicles to ply. Traffic snarls at Rajgurunagar, a taluka, in the pick hours have been a regular affair for the past few years.

Deputy superintendent of police (Khed division) Ram Pathare said, "Considering the daily traffic congestion at the place, it was necessary to carry out the drive. Before undertaking the drive, we conducted our own survey with the civic authorities."

The police officials claimed that the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) should develop basic infrastructure like road dividers, traffic signals and non-parking zones. "We will convey these issues to NHAI authorities," Pathare added.

Santosh Ghumatkar, an engineering student residing in the area, said, "The highway authorities haven't paid much heed to the basic infrastructure of the road for many years. We observe serpentine queues of vehicles at the place every day, making life miserable for residents as well as commuters."

With the increasing traffic congestion in Chakan-Khed-Talegaon industrial areas, the state government decided to initiate steps to widen the highway. But nothing has been done so far.

A senior NHAI official said, "The land acquisition has become a major hurdle for us. Once we complete this procedure, the road widening work will be carried out immediately."

According to the plan, the 30km stretch between Nashik Phata and Rajgurunagar will be widened to six lanes from the existing four.

"In the past one decade, there has been a significant increase in vehicular traffic because of newly developed residential areas in Chakan and Rajgurunagar. The expansion of Chakan and Rajgurunagar industrial zones has increased the heavy vehicular traffic on the stretch," said a senior police officer of the Khed division.