Clumsy execution of ‘smart’ work sparks FC Road chaos
Rujuta Parekh | TNN | Mar 28, 2019, 08:03 IST
The residents and traders termed the 'smart' pavement visionless, considering the rising number of vehicles in the cityPUNE: Inconsistent planning and awry execution of the ‘smart’ footpath work has unleashed utter chaos on FC Road, forcing motorists and pedestrians to jostle for space while dodging the dug up spots on the 2.4km one-way thoroughfare.
Member of FC Road Traders Association Vijay Abnave said he failed to understand the vision behind the work. “With the sort of the work happening on the stretch, there won’t be any road left in the future. The snail-paced work and dust has made us tired of it already. Besides, haphazard parking is only adding insult to injury here,” he said.
With the old footpaths gone and the new ones being nowhere in sight, the stretch has become a nightmare for pedestrians too. “Some people have even had falls while trying to manoeuvre their way through the dug-up patches,” Abnave said.
He also demanded policy decisions on parking and for vendors. “It is not prudent to put a blanket ban on parking in the area but alternative provisions must be made. The Pune Municipal Corporation must also have a proper framework to ensure that hawkers do not come back here,” Abnave said.
However, residents said declaring the stretch ‘no parking’ zone till the work was under way was the sole solution for the traffic mess on FC Road. “Double parking, wrong-side driving and pressure on adjoining lanes, we have it all. If the common man can see these problems, why are the authorities blind to them? Why can’t we have ‘no parking’ along FC Road till the work is completed? With dug-up spots, no footpaths, wrong-side driving and haphazard parking, the road has become a circus now,” Suresh Karve, a member of FC Road Parisar Samiti, said.
Karve said though the road was a ‘No Hawkers Zone’ on paper, the implementation had been lackadaisical.
Another resident Anupama Oak raised questions about the shrinking width of the road. “PMC has not done any ‘origin-destination’ study to understand the traffic flow, which will only increase in future. Is it not possible to make the wider JM Road a two-way so that the traffic is divided across the area equally?” she questioned.
Oak sought a similar study to solve the hawkers menace. “The hawkers come back as they get customers here. If the a flea market is created for hawkers somewhere, the roads will be free,” she said.
When contacted, deputy commissioner of police (traffic) Pankaj Deshmukh said, “We are trying to flush out all vehicles parked illegally to ensure smoother traffic flow. A blanket ban on parking on FC Road can be considered, but then motorists will park their vehicles in the adjoining lanes, leading to chaos there. We are trying to work out strategies to solve the problems.”
Inspector of Deccan traffic division Kiran Balwadkar said instructions will be issued to contractors to use dumpers in the night. “We are in the process of installing continuous barricades at all spots,” he said.
Member of FC Road Traders Association Vijay Abnave said he failed to understand the vision behind the work. “With the sort of the work happening on the stretch, there won’t be any road left in the future. The snail-paced work and dust has made us tired of it already. Besides, haphazard parking is only adding insult to injury here,” he said.
With the old footpaths gone and the new ones being nowhere in sight, the stretch has become a nightmare for pedestrians too. “Some people have even had falls while trying to manoeuvre their way through the dug-up patches,” Abnave said.
He also demanded policy decisions on parking and for vendors. “It is not prudent to put a blanket ban on parking in the area but alternative provisions must be made. The Pune Municipal Corporation must also have a proper framework to ensure that hawkers do not come back here,” Abnave said.
However, residents said declaring the stretch ‘no parking’ zone till the work was under way was the sole solution for the traffic mess on FC Road. “Double parking, wrong-side driving and pressure on adjoining lanes, we have it all. If the common man can see these problems, why are the authorities blind to them? Why can’t we have ‘no parking’ along FC Road till the work is completed? With dug-up spots, no footpaths, wrong-side driving and haphazard parking, the road has become a circus now,” Suresh Karve, a member of FC Road Parisar Samiti, said.
Karve said though the road was a ‘No Hawkers Zone’ on paper, the implementation had been lackadaisical.
Another resident Anupama Oak raised questions about the shrinking width of the road. “PMC has not done any ‘origin-destination’ study to understand the traffic flow, which will only increase in future. Is it not possible to make the wider JM Road a two-way so that the traffic is divided across the area equally?” she questioned.
Oak sought a similar study to solve the hawkers menace. “The hawkers come back as they get customers here. If the a flea market is created for hawkers somewhere, the roads will be free,” she said.
When contacted, deputy commissioner of police (traffic) Pankaj Deshmukh said, “We are trying to flush out all vehicles parked illegally to ensure smoother traffic flow. A blanket ban on parking on FC Road can be considered, but then motorists will park their vehicles in the adjoining lanes, leading to chaos there. We are trying to work out strategies to solve the problems.”
Inspector of Deccan traffic division Kiran Balwadkar said instructions will be issued to contractors to use dumpers in the night. “We are in the process of installing continuous barricades at all spots,” he said.
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