PMC to pursue multi-pronged plan to decongest 32 key roads, improve traffic flow

Pune: PMC commissioner Naval Kishore Ram on Tuesday said that the civic administration is focusing on decongesting 32 key roads in the city by keeping their carriageways free of obstacles, at a time when commuters' complaints about frequent traffic congestion have reached a crescendo. Ram assured that a plan is taking shape to pursue road resurfacing, continuous repairs of chambers, and completion of missing links on a priority basis by ensuring multi-agency coordination.
The civic chief was addressing a workshop organized by Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on ‘Improving Urban Mobility in Pune' attended by various stakeholders at Bal Gandharva Rang Mandir on Tuesday. Attendees included representatives from the civic body, traffic police, Maha Metro, citizens, and more. Ram told the gathering that PMC is working on short-and long-term solutions to improve overall mobility. While long-term solutions include projects like constructing flyovers and extending the Metro's reach, short-term measures comprise shifting electricity poles and power supply feeders obstructing traffic, as well as ensuring even road surfaces and pothole-free carriageways. According to Ram, PMC is taking steps for coordinated efforts with the city traffic police towards improving overall commuter flow. "We will also work out solutions on feeder poles and DPs along with MSEDCL, and road-digging plans with BSNL. Citizens' participation and support will be vital in executing the initiatives," he said. The civic chief said, "Completion of missing links is on the administration's priority list, which will help improve speed and provide better access to travellers. The ring road coming up on the outskirts will restrict the entry of bigger vehicles into the city. PMC will execute these efforts in mission mode." Ram also said that among other issues on PMC's priority list are improvements in the provision of streetlights, handling construction and demolition waste, removal of illegal hoardings, and tackling the presence of illegal hawkers on city streets in large numbers. Also present at the event, city mayor Manjusha Nagpure asked the civic administration to fix responsibility for each department. She said that there has been a lack of planning and execution, leading to major traffic chaos, and commuters are facing vehicular congestion too frequently. "Bigger projects will take time for execution, but the administration cannot wait for these to finish; immediate solutions will have to be worked out," she said, adding that PMC must work in merged areas to improve the road network.Other people's representatives present at the event included leader of house in PMC Ganesh Bidkar, leader of opposition in PMC Nilesh Nikam and deputy mayor Parshuram Wadekar. Addressing the gathering, additional police commissioner Manoj Patil said that traffic speed had improved in the city, and the traffic department is prioritising the most congested locations and stretches for corrective measures. He said, "Pune's vehicle population is significant. Hence, low-cost traffic management techniques are being implemented with the help of the latest technologies such as the Intelligent Traffic Management System (ITMS). Regular congestion monitoring is underway. The share of public transport has been less, leading to high use of private vehicles."