Elevated pandals to keep Peth areas free of congestion

Pune: Driving through the narrow lanes of Peth areas in the city will no longer be a pain during Ganeshotsav this year. For, many of the crowd-puller pandals will not stand in the way of trafficTo spare pandal hoppers of traffic woes, several mandals have decided to build elevated structures allowing vehicles to pass through. Many areas in Sadashiv Peth, Narayan Peth and Kasba Peth turn into traffic choker zones during the 10-day Ganesh festival.Ganesh Lonare, president, Shreemant Shivsai Prathisthan Trust, which has erected a "hanging pandal" near Bhosle Shinde Arcade on JM Road, said, "We will perform a 30-minute skit at the pandal in Deccan, featuring over 30 actors, many of whom will take turns to perform on stage. The entire setup and the show are a collaborative effort of our members from various walks of life. We have a Colonel, a banker, among our bankers. At any given point in time during the festival, we have an audience of about 3000-4000 people, but due to the overhead pandal, traffic flow will not be affected."Most of these overhead stages are between 4ft and 10ft wide and suspended 25ft above the ground.Mahesh Amrale, president of Prakash Mitra Mandal Trust, said that they first erected a "hanging pandal" in 2013 and have since been adding their own innovations while focusing on safety and structural integrity."Safety is paramount for our members, many of whom will be on the stage, with vehicles passing through below. Instead of elaborate setups, we will have live decoration featuring actors in costumes. This year, our theme is 'badalti Pune' or changing Pune, depicting how the city has changed with youngsters not paying any heed to road safety, parents not knowing what their kids are up to outside the house, and so on," said Amrale.Their stage, located at the top of a narrow lane in Kasba Peth, is high off the road to allow ambulances and other vehicles to pass through.Yuvraj Nimbalkar, president, Chhatrapati Rajaram Mandal, said, "This year, we are celebrating 133 years of our mandal. We are not only addressing traffic congestion but also providing baby feeding centres for new mothers. Every year, we pick one popular temple in India and make a replica of the same. This year, we have made a replica of Shri Durgiana Temple in Amritsar. Apart from giving devotees a glimpse of how it looks, we aim to spread the message of mindfulness and cleanliness, which is diligently practised in all Sikh temples."Nimbalkar added, "The planning for the pandal begins a year in advance, and the work on the site starts a few weeks before the festival. We have been reusing most of the materials used on the site for the last 15 years as this helps in bringing down the cost and is also beneficial for the environment."
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