PMC’s Aga Khan-Tadigutta road widening drags on, commuters brace for months of chaos

Pune: Daily commuters using the busy stretch between Aga Khan Junction and Tadigutta Chowk are staring at several more months of traffic misery.The Pune Municipal Corporation's (PMC) road-widening project, initially expected to move faster, is now slated for completion only after Diwali this year.The civic body initiated the ambitious project last year to widen the existing 18-metre road to 30 metres. By adding an extra lane on both sides, the project aims to accommodate the heavy vehicular traffic flowing through the city's rapidly developing eastern suburbs. However, slow progress, delays in shifting utilities, and repeated traffic restrictions have turned this crucial corridor into one of the city's worst congestion points.The PMC is executing the work in three phases across a two-km stretch. Officials admitted that only the first phase —covering a mere 130 metres — has been completed, while the remaining sections are still underway.The ongoing construction has crippled traffic movement across Vimannagar, Kalyaninagar, Koregaon Park, and Mundhwa belt. During peak hours, commuters report spending between 45 minutes to an hour to cross a distance of barely two km."It has become mentally exhausting," said Pritam Joshi, an IT professional from Vimannagar. "I leave the office thinking I'll be home in 20 minutes, but half my evening is wasted in traffic. Standing on a bike in bumper-to-bumper traffic in this heat is unbearable. The authorities clearly started this work without proper planning."Residents and office-goers have expressed growing anger over the lack of on-ground management. "Every day is chaos. There are dug-up roads and bottlenecks everywhere," said Sneha Kulkarni, a Kharadi resident. "The worst part is lack of a clear timeline. All we see is endless dust and gridlock."Rahul More, who travels daily from Hadapsar to Yerawada, described the route as a "punishment for motorists." He noted that travel times have become completely unpredictable, affecting public buses and private vehicles alike.PMC officials attributed the delay to pending permissions from the Defence Estates Office and difficulties in shifting utility lines belonging to Maharashtra Natural Gas Limited (MNGL) and Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL).Sachin Bagade, the PMC executive engineer overseeing the project, stated that a breakthrough was recently achieved. "We have finally received clearance from the Defence Estates Office to lay service lines on a 100-metre patch of defence land. We are now prioritising this to speed up the widening," Bagade said. He added that the third phase would commence once additional permissions are secured, with the goal of completing the entire project by Diwali.Meanwhile, traffic police officials warned that the bottleneck is having a cascading effect on surrounding areas. "Congestion in Koregaon Park and Mundhwa is a direct result of the delays on this stretch," a traffic officer said. "If work does not progress rapidly, the situation could worsen significantly once the monsoon begins."Graphic: (if needed)This is one of the main connecting roads which is utilised by those travelling towards Mundhwa, Hadapsar -Magarpatta and commuters going to Hadapsar railway station.Widening was necessary considering rapidly increasing volume of the vehicles.Before initiating the work, the PMC should have got all permission from the Local Military Authority.To have a decent coordination with the LMA, it should conduct joint meeting on a regular basis to discuss about infrastructure projects.Because of this traffic, the military population is also suffering.The PMC will again have to break the compound wall of the Army Sports Institute for the project.It will reconstruct the wall once the work is done.The PMC workers are enable to work in the night because of ‘night life' along the stretch which has a significant pubs, hotels and restaurants.Such projects need to be completed in a deadline.Ends