All kinds of vehicles plying through the BRTS route near Dapodi on Saturday. (Express photo by Manoj More)
The day after its launch, traffic movement on the Bus Rapid Transport System (BRTS) between Nigdi and Dapodi was far from smooth, as bus drivers remained confused, traffic police remained spectators and officials of the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation struggled to manage the route. On Saturday, buses could be seen plying on the BRTS route, then moving out of the designated track, only to make their way back to it after some time.
Much like the day of the BRTS launch, the 4-km stretch between Pimpri Chowk and Dapodi remained chaotic. The Nashik Phata-Dapodi stretch, where work on Pune Metro project has taken over almost the entire length of the express lane, saw traffic snarls as vehicles kept travelling from the express lane to the service road, and back to the express lane. Bus drivers had a tough time as they tried to make their way through the maze of traffic.
To add to the woes of commuters, a major portion of the highway from Nigdi to Dapodi continued to be encroached by mechanics and their vehicles, or autorickshaws, further hindering the flow of traffic.
Till Saturday afternoon, from Kasarwadi to Dapodi, tempos, autorickshaws and even two-wheelers used the BRTS track, hampering the movement of the very buses the BRTS was built for. When Municipal Commissioner Shravan Hardikar was alerted about this by The Indian Express, the administration swung into action and stopped other vehicles from using the BRTS route.
The traffic wardens on duty didn’t seem to be trained to handle the situation properly. PCMC’s BRTS in-charge Vijay Bhojne said, “Commuters don’t care for traffic wardens. We need help from traffic police to manage the BRTS”.
Traffic policemen, however, were busy trying to nab motorists who violated traffic signals. They seemed to be oblivious to the encroachment on the highway stretch between Nashik Phata and Phugewadi, or the problems faced by buses as they tried to use the BRTS.
At Nashik Phata chowk, vehicles were seen parked comfortably right next to ‘no parking’ boards. When alerted, Assistant Commissioner of Police Satish Patil reached the spot and directed local police to take action against such vehicles. Traffic police were seen noting down numbers of vehicles parked indiscriminately at the chowk. “Police will take action against vehicles parked in the ‘no parking’ zone,” Patil told The Indian Express.
PCMC Commissioner Hardikar said he had informed Additional Police Commissioner Makrand Ranade about the encroachment problem on the highway and the need to remove encroachers. “Soon, we will come up with a traffic policy and will provide towing vehicles to police,” said Hardikar.
Of the 273 buses deployed on BRTS route, at least 30-odd buses did not ply the entire length as they had to take a detour towards Bhosari, Pimprigaon, Chinchwad and YCM Hospital. “It will take at least eight days for the BRTS route to settle down,” said Bhojne.
He claimed things fell in place in the afternoon and traffic on the BRTS route ran smoothly after that. “There were no accidents or any breakdowns,” said Bhojne.