Lack of traffic infrastructure poses threat to gardens’ visitors in Pune

PUNE: Gardens’ visitors are compelled to dodge vehicles with precision almost as 2022 Football World Cup star Lionel Messi, thanks to lack of pedestrian signals, faded zebra crossings and too few parking lots nearby.
While Messi’s dribbling skills were a threat to rival defenders, visitors to gardens are themselves exposed to threat while making their way through the vehicles.The Argentine star simply relishes going past the opponents on the soccer pitch, but garden-goers just don’t enjoy dodging vehicles on busy roads.
Naturally, comes the demand for beefed up safety measures near gardens. Renuka Sabne recently visited the Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj garden on Jungli Maharaj Road. She, along with her kids, faced a huge challenge in crossing the busy road outside the garden to reach the opposite side in the absence of pedestrian signal and zebra crossing.
“The administration has installed the signals, but they are non-functional on many days. The zebra crossing has faded. Vehicles do not pay attention towards walkers,” Sabne said.
Ditto is the situation near a few more public gardens. Akhay Rahane, a regular visitor to Pu La Deshpande garden on Sinhagad Road, said faded zebra crossing and lack of proper channels to cross the road were major concerns. People cross the road from any spots, risking their lives.
Deven Shah, a resident of Shivajinagar, said, “The civic administration and police need to deploy more staffers during rush hours and holidays at public places like gardens and historical monuments, where the footfall of visitors tends to be more. The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has deployed staffers inside the gardens to keep a watch on visitors. Similar teams can help visitors to cross roads and help find proper parking,” Shah said.
Mahesh Raj, who recently visited the Sarasbaug area, said crossing the main road outside the entrance of the garden was an uphill task because of the huge traffic flow.
Lack of parking space near gardens is another challenge for visitors. Ashish Singh, a resident of Nagar road, said the administration should keep some space reserved for those visiting gardens. Also, regular checks should be conducted to clear encroachments on footpaths and near entry/exit gates of gardens.
PMC authorities said the pedestrian signals would be repaired soon and the painting of zebra crossings would be taken up in the next few days. Srinivas Kandul, the head of PMC’s electrical department, said, “We shall send teams to check the status of pedestrian crossings near the public gardens. Based on the inspections’ outcome, the administration will come up with measures.”