PUNE/KOLHAPUR: Roads leading to hill stations and seashores were jampacked in the state on Saturday, as residents - mainly from Pune and Mumbai - lapped up the long weekend opportunity to escape from the cities' ennui and unwind in nature's bounty.
The vehicular movement on Pune-Mumbai Expressway, especially between Mumbai and Lonavla, was disrupted on Saturday as a large number of people hit the speed corridor in cars for a short break. Long queues of vehicles, extending up to 10km, were seen in the ghat section of the expressway and at Lonavla.
There was bumper-to-bumper traffic at Khed-Shivapur toll plaza, Wele Phata, Wai Phata, Malkapur Naka and Karad Naka on the Pune-Bengaluru highway stretch between Kolhapur and Pune, as people headed to destinations like Mahabaleshwar, Bamnoli, Tapola, Panhala fort and Goa.
Motorists, heading towards Pune from Mumbai, took about two hours to cross the Khandala ghat section, police said. According to the officials of Highway Safety Patrol (HSP), Pune, many motorists from Mumbai and Navi Mumbai took the expressway to reach Lonavla-Khandala and Mahabaleshwar. A large number of cars, SUVs and minibuses came on the road after 8am, leading to the traffic jam.
Superintendent of police, HSP, Lata Phad, told TOI, "It is a long weekend and people want to enjoy holidays at tourist destinations such as Lonavla, Khandala and Mahabaleshwar. Vehicles are moving at snail's pace. The Mumbai corridor (lanes leading to Mumbai from Pune) was empty, though."
She said, "The ghat section witnessed the traffic jam because of the weekend wanderlusts' rush. We have deputed additional manpower at Khandala and Lonavla to clear the traffic. The traffic jam situation prevailed till 1pm. The number of vehicles reduced thereafter, giving us some respite for an hour or so."
Phad said, "Vehicles swelled again after 2pm and there was traffic jam on the Pune corridor once more. The congestion continued till the evening."
She said, "To regulate vehicles at Khandala and Lonavla, we are taking 'traffic blocks' and vehicles are being allowed to move towards Lonavla/Khandala exits via additional lanes available on the Mumbai corridor."
Manasi Vaibhav of Mulund in Mumbai, heading towards Mahabaleshwar, said, "We left home around 6.30am and reached the expressway around 7.45am. We reached the ghat section around 8.30am after crossing Khalapur toll plaza and got stuck in the traffic jam. The vehicles barely moved for almost 30 minutes. We reached Lonavla around 12.30pm. After Lonavla, there were no vehicles on the expressway".
Akash Soni, a tourist to Mahabaleshwar from Pune, said, "The drive to Mahabaleshwar, which usually takes two hours, on Saturday took double the time. We left Pune at 8am and reached Mahabaleshwar at 12.30pm because of traffic congestions at the Khed-Shivapur toll plaza and Venna lake point. Vehicles were moving at a snail's pace Pasarni ghat also."
The situation was similar for tourists arriving in Kolhapur and going towards Konkan and Goa. They faced traffic jams at Karad and Malkapur Naka because of the ongoing demolition works of the flyover for the six-laning work of the Kagal-Satara stretch of the Pune-Bengaluru national highway.
In Kolhapur district, tourist destinations like Mahalaxmi temple, Panhala fort, Nrusinhawadi Datt temple and Kopeshwar temple at Khidrapur witnessed a heavy turnout of visitors. Suresh Deshpande, a devotee at Mahalaxmi temple, said, "Roads have been dug up and kept closed without any signages. Finding a parking space near the Mahalaxmi temple was a tough task for me. But the time taken for darshan was only 45 minutes."
The road towards Goa and parts of Sindhudurg district via Phonda ghat and Amboli ghat also witnessed an increase in traffic movement on Saturday. The travel time increased by around an hour. Poor road condition at Karul ghat near Gagan Bawda was another reason for congestion on other ghat routes.
Truck tips over
The driver and the cleaner of a truck carrying hens to Mumbai were injured after it turned on its side at Gahunje village on the Pune-Mumbai Expressway around 12.15am on Saturday. A large number of hens died in the accident.
The truck was heading towards Mumbai from Pune. Its driver lost control over the vehicle and the truck tipped over. The two injured persons have been admitted to a private hospital located at Somatne Phata.
The Pune-Mumbai Expressway authorities and the Pimpri Chinchwad police pressed a heavy-duty crane into service to pull the truck to the service lane.
Hens scattered on the expressway lanes were also removed.
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