Pune: Barricades force residents to take detours to hospitals, pharmacies

PUNE: Residents from different parts of the city complained on Tuesday about irrational barricading of roads, lanes and bylanes, posing difficulties to them in accessing emergency services like hospitals and medical stores as also in commuting to permitted workplaces.
The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and the police placed barricades in several lanes and by-lanes to cut off access to main roads, forcing people allowed to travel to take a detour.

No way to bypass
“I stay in Dattanagar and my office is in Deccan. I took out my car as I was told that two-wheelers were not allowed. All roads leading to Katraj-Dehu Road Bypass were blocked. I had to drive towards Katraj and then take the Satara Road to reach my office,” said a woman banker.
Difficulties in Deccan
Residents in the Deccan area pointed out that two main entry points to the Bhandarkar Road were blocked. “Most of the bylanes connecting Bhandarkar Road with Prabhat Road have been sealed. It was a hassle reaching different bungalows and apartments for milk distribution,” said a local milk supplier.
A dairy shop owner in Model Colony said, “Most inlets into the Model Colony from FC Road are closed and so is the case with Gokhale Nagar-Wadarwadi junction.”
Senior inspector Deepak Lagad of the Deccan police said, “We have left a major street that houses Kamala Nehru Park open from Bhandarkar Road and Prabhat Road. All internal roads are accessible. It is only that one has to take a little detour.”
Lanes connecting to Karve Road, Jangli Maharaj Road and Apte road, among others, have also been blocked.
An ambulance driver said, “I had a tough time shifting a patient to a hospital in the Shivajinagar area.”
Karve Road hurdles
Karve road resident Sameer Joshi was upset with the barricading of bylanes near Dashabhuja Ganapati temple on Karve Road. “I wanted to go to a medicine store near my house. But I had to take a detour.”
Chaos in Kondhwa
Kondhwa resident Sameer Pathan said, “People want the Kondhwa-Saswad Road to be opened for emergency vehicles. The road stands blocked due to barricades at Jyoti Chowk. The police have also blocked the road from Lullanagar Chowk to Wanworie.”
Hadapsar’s former MLA Mahadev Babar said, “The PMC and the police ought to have consulted elected representatives before putting up the barricades in Kondhwa. People are worried how a person with Covid-19 symptoms would be taken to a Covid care centre at Yeolewadi or Wanowrie. The PMC has not opened such a facility in Kondhwa.”
Hadapsar resident Ashish Gaikwad said, “Barricades cannot be a solution to contain the spread of Covid-19. The police need to play a proactive role in ensuring that people do not venture out on roads.”
Bhavani Peth sealed
Pune Cantonment activist Shashidhar Puram said, “The PMC, instead of wasting time and money on barricading places in Bhavani Peth and adjoining areas, should judiciously use funds for offering free ration and medical treatment to infected people.”
Additional commissioner of Pune police Sanjay Shinde said, “We are aware about people having faced difficulties in reaching hospitals, workplaces and addressing family needs, but the local police did facilitate their movement. A study of areas was done before barricading the lanes and the roads. Vehicles were diverted to the main arterial roads from the lanes. It is not correct that all approach roads were blocked.”