Wider road awaits tourists to Sinhagad this monsoon

PUNE: Tourists visiting Sinhagad fort this monsoon can expect some respite from the usual traffic snarls in the ghat section with the public works department initiating the work to widen the 2km stretch.


Once widened, the stretch can see more vehicles smoothly passing through it at a given time. The stretch is located in the middle section of the ghat, about 3km from the forest check post set up at the beginning of the ghat road.

PWD officials said the civil work of the widening project has already started and is expected to be over in a month. Plans are also afoot to increase the width of the stretch from the existing 3m to 5.5m. The widening will add another lane to the road, which will help motorists negotiate the sharp turns and drive along the gradients.

Sinhagad fort is a popular tourist spot that witnesses huge footfall during monsoon. The overcrowding often leads to traffic snarls in the ghat section because of the narrow carriageway. The ghat has a deep valley on one side and a hill section on the other and is open for all types of vehicles. Frequent travellers often complain that apart from the four months of monsoon, the ghat remains busy during weekends and holidays and requires more attention in terms of traffic management.

Another common complaint of the visitors is haphazard parking of cars in the middle of the ghat. The parked vehicles leave little space for other road users. A wider road would also be a solution to the problem.

The officials said widening work along the 2km stretch has been taken up in the patch with enough space . A survey was conducted to identify the locations for the widening of the ghat road, they added.

The PWD has also planned concreting of about 500m road stretch on top of the ghat. A PWD official said the entire ghat is about 9km long and the department is planning to concrete about 2km stretch near the top. Of this, work on 500m is expected to be over before the rain sets in.