Pune: The long weekend following Independence Day approaches and travellers planning to leave the city are bracing for heavy traffic load on highways from Wednesday onwards. To avoid the anticipated rush, some are opting to start their journey early in the morning, while others are relying on traffic apps before hitting the road; a few have decided to just stay home. Superintendent of police (Highway Safety Patrol) Vikrant Deshmukh told TOI that personnel will be deployed on both the old highway and expressway to ensure smooth traffic flow .
“Our primary concern during weekends is to regulate traffic in Lonavla city and on the highway,” he noted. The SP added that temporary blocks will be implemented on the Pune-Mumbai Expressway if needed. To manage heavy traffic in Lonavla, authorities will strictly enforce a ban on heavy vehicles entering the city.
“Across other highways leading out of Pune, we will have a strong presence at every predictable bottleneck, focusing on preventing drunk driving, speeding, and parking violations,” Deshmukh said. Commuters are making their own plans. IT professional Nitin Dharap said, “Our team outing in Karjat was shifted to Lonavla, to avoid traffic in the eway ghat section this long weekend.
” Businessman Vijay Pandey shared, “Our school get-together is in Goa from Aug 15-17. We will travel by train to avoid highway traffic. In the rainy season, traffic jams are common, especially in ghat areas.
There is also a fear of landslides, etc. To avoid all this, 20-30 of us are going to Goa via train on Aug 14. Even the return journey has been booked via train or flight.
” Alka Dubey from Mumbai is planning to meet friends in Pune but has booked a taxi for 4am on Aug 15. “People will travel after work on Aug 14, so leaving that evening doesn’t make sense. I hope to cross the ghat section early before traffic builds up.
Last Christmas, it took us almost eight hours to reach Pune due to traffic jams. We don’t want to repeat this experience,” she said. We also published the following articles recently Soon, plan for heavy traffic diversion at Porvorim The Goa police traffic cell planned to divert heavy traffic through alternative routes during the construction of the elevated highway at Porvorim, said MLA Rohan Khaunte after a review meeting chaired by the chief minister.
The work, split into four phases, will begin after trial runs of the diversions. Construction is expected to take two years. Bengaluru rains: Early morning showers leads to waterlogging and traffic jams Bengaluru faced waterlogging and traffic jams due to early morning rains on Monday, affecting office-goers and school children.
Key locations like Outer Ring Road, Veerasandra, and Hosur Road experienced significant disruptions. Deputy CM DK Shivakumar visited affected areas, emphasizing the need to improve ground water levels. Form Teams To Ensure Smooth Traffic Flow: LG Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena instructed the traffic police to speed up issuing challans via WhatsApp.
He emphasized enhancing police visibility on roads and deploying dedicated teams at congestion points. He also called for the installation of AI-based cameras for automatic number plate recognition and joint efforts to handle illegal parking, bus lane enforcement, and impounding unregistered e-rickshaws..
