Bavdhan society’s two-year struggle for 2 speed breakers

Pune: The simple task of stepping out of their homes has become a constant source of danger for residents of Zinnea Cooperative Housing Society, located near Chandni Chowk along Mumbai-Bengaluru Highway.Equipped with only one operational entry and exit gate that opens directly onto the highway service road, residents find themselves at the mercy of speeding vehicles — which have already caused multiple accidents.
After the Chandni Chowk flyover was inaugurated in Aug 2023, largely streamlining traffic flow that now zips past the spot, Zinnea residents have been appealing to various govt authorities to install two speed breakers on the service road to enhance safety. However, almost two years down the line, both their demand and their fears persist. The success of the Chandni Chowk project has made use of the service road a regular affair for heavy vehicles, including cement mixers, trailers, earth movers and even Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Ltd (PMPML). The service lane runs straight from Bavdhan to Chandni Chowk, allowing vehicles of all sizes to move at high speeds without hindrance, leading to a surge in accidents — a fact emphasized in the most recent letter sent by the residents to the Pimpri Chinchwad traffic police department, said society secretary Mangesh Narkhedkar. He said, "We have reached out to the authorities since May 2024 to install two speed breakers near the two gates of our society that open up on the service road to control speeding vehicles. Unfortunately, once the service road work was done, one of our gates was rendered unusable as some pillars have been installed there. It has created a huge dip in the road. We have only one accessible gate for entry and exit, but because of speeding vehicles, it has become stressful to leave or enter our residential complex." Narkhedkar was referring to infra work done by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) near one of their gates. "Most commuters aren't aware that the service road is a two-way stretch and so, they speed from Bavdhan towards Kothrud without any fear of an oncoming vehicle. We are always scared of an accident, especially when we come from Kothrud to enter the society. There is also a bus stop opposite our gate facing us, which adds to the chaos," Narkhedkar added. Adityapratap Singh, a resident of the society, met with an accident on the service road in Aug 2025 while on his two-wheeler. "One lane was occupied by a bus deboarding passengers and a rickshaw came speeding from the wrong side. The auto driver could see that I was riding there; I shone the upper dipper and honked multiple times, but he did not think it important to wait. We had a head-on collision. The impact of the accident was bad enough that I hurt my forearm and had to get seven stitches. I am lucky that I missed a fatal accident by inches. I continue to face such close calls and so do many other society members," said Singh, who is a software developer by profession. Safety of senior citizens or children who travel by themselves is another worry. When the issue was raised with former corporators last year — much before the civic elections were finally held this Jan — a few signboards were installed, indicating that the service road is a two-way stretch. However, these small signages are inconveniently placed and barely visible. "We have had officials from NHAI, Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and the traffic police visit us to survey the service road last year on three different occasions, but it has yielded no results," informed Hemant Paranjpe, a retired chemical engineer and long-time resident of the society. He added, "How many more applications should we submit? On some days, the streetlights also do not function in the area, rendering this stretch even deadlier. It is a service road near a highway. Naturally, vehicles could be speeding, especially if they don't know that there is a society entrance here, or that the stretch is two-way. In such scenarios, speed breakers are the only solution." He cautioned, "There have already been many accidents here, and unless the authorities are waiting for a major mishap, for someone to lose their life, they must take cognizance and get the needful done urgently." Most recently, on Jan 6, Narkhedkar registered an online complaint on the PMC website, putting in a fresh request for the speed breakers. On Jan 7, a junior engineer from the road department rejected the request, stating that since this qualifies as ‘long-term work', it will be done only when funds are next available. Officials Speak Responsibilities of such a nature were transferred to the ward office's jurisdiction just last month (Jan 2026). However, we will start by finding out if the service road is currently under PMC or NHAI. We might also need a new NOC from the traffic police. I will check what can be done— Santosh Gaikwad | Deputy engineer, Kothrud-Bavdhan ward office, PMC The civic body has not yet accepted the handover of the service road. However, we are aware of the issue. A site visit was conducted with traffic police, NHAI team, junior engineers from PMC's road department. The traffic police suggested that we either put rumbler strips or speed breakers at the spot. Since it's a service road and two-wheelers could topple over a speed breaker and get into a major accident, they suggested we try rumbler strips first. For speed breakers, we need an NOC from the police as well as from NHAI before work can start — Kishor Bharekar | Contractor, National Highways Authority of India