PUNE: Vehicular movement along the Pune-Mumbai expressway, particularly in the Bor ghat stretch, was reduced to a crawl with long queues of light and heavy motor vehicles on Sunday.
Authorities pointed out that weekend travelers and picnickers to places like Lonavla and Khandala from Mumbai as well as Pune added to the large number of vehicles on the expressway and were the main reason for the slow-moving traffic. The fact that Monday is a public holiday on account of Gandhi Jayanti meant more people decided to travel, they said.
Lata Phad, superintendent of police, highway safety patrol (HSP), told TOI, “People from Pune and Mumbai had gone to the hill stations or seaside locations for the long weekend. Many started returning home on Sunday, while some stepped outside their homes to enjoy their time in Lonavla- Khandala on Sunday and Monday. This led to the crowding of vehicles on the expressway as well as on the old highway.”
Additional traffic police teams were deployed to clear the traffic, which had been running slowly since Sunday morning. “The vehicular movement returned to normalcy around 5pm. Also, we have at the moment blocked heavy vehicles to ease the movement of light motor vehicles,” Phad added.
Sachit Marathe, a Pune-based techie, who had gone to Alibaug, told TOI, “It was a long weekend, and my family decided to visit the seaside location.” We decided to return to Pune after it started raining there. However, on Sunday, we got stuck in the traffic jam on the expressway, and it took us six hours to reach home from Panvel.”
Sadanand Vyas, a resident of Wakad, said, “A few friends of mine and I went to Matheran for two days. We decided to return on Sunday, but our minibus got stuck in the traffic on the old highway. It took over seven hours for me to reach home.”
Authorities pointed out that weekend travelers and picnickers to places like Lonavla and Khandala from Mumbai as well as Pune added to the large number of vehicles on the expressway and were the main reason for the slow-moving traffic. The fact that Monday is a public holiday on account of Gandhi Jayanti meant more people decided to travel, they said.
Lata Phad, superintendent of police, highway safety patrol (HSP), told TOI, “People from Pune and Mumbai had gone to the hill stations or seaside locations for the long weekend. Many started returning home on Sunday, while some stepped outside their homes to enjoy their time in Lonavla- Khandala on Sunday and Monday. This led to the crowding of vehicles on the expressway as well as on the old highway.”
Additional traffic police teams were deployed to clear the traffic, which had been running slowly since Sunday morning. “The vehicular movement returned to normalcy around 5pm. Also, we have at the moment blocked heavy vehicles to ease the movement of light motor vehicles,” Phad added.
Sachit Marathe, a Pune-based techie, who had gone to Alibaug, told TOI, “It was a long weekend, and my family decided to visit the seaside location.” We decided to return to Pune after it started raining there. However, on Sunday, we got stuck in the traffic jam on the expressway, and it took us six hours to reach home from Panvel.”
Sadanand Vyas, a resident of Wakad, said, “A few friends of mine and I went to Matheran for two days. We decided to return on Sunday, but our minibus got stuck in the traffic on the old highway. It took over seven hours for me to reach home.”
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