After tall promises, PMC does little to ease chaos
As a response to a campaign organized by a national daily in August, the civic authority had agreed to work on realignment work at the crossing to fix the heavy traffic congestion at the junction. The repair work was also aimed towards ensuring pedestrian safety including school students. However, the agreement still remains largely on papers, even after 2 months of its proposal.
Proposed realignment works
The civic authority was expected trim medians and put up signage and road signals, in addition to adoption of other safety measures. Traffic teams posted at the spot informed that a lot more needs to be done, in order manage the traffic in an efficient manner. Friends of Traffic Police (FOTP) activists informed that the work was not taken up seriously by the authority, and traffic management teams complained that it was incomplete and shoddy. Two pedestrian islands were downsized, instead of alignment of the pedestrian halts.
The executive engineer of PMC stated that as per the civic officials, the repair work was almost complete and that it would be reviewed by the stakeholders after visiting the site. He said that once the same is done, final touches would be given to the work undertaken.
Measures adopted to tackle the problem
He informed that as part of the realignment drive, pedestrian islands have been realigned as per the markings. A few of the proposed changes have been cancelled, which includes shifting the median on Pashan Road. Finishing touches like painting the zebra crossings would be done after the meeting with the stakeholders, during which the work completed till now would be reviewed.
API in charge of traffic management at the chowk said that the work was pending in the junction. He stated that the labour force which was assigned to complete the task was diverted by the PMC, to work on the upcoming Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) on Aundh Road. He said that the police force is trying to manage the traffic, though there has been no easing of the traffic situation here. To ensure that the traffic does not come to a standstill, cars, autos and other vehicles are not allowed to halt at the junction.
Traffic management experts state that the authority is ignorant and does not have a proper planning about the work to be carried out. The civic body is unaware about the on-ground situation. Pedestrian islands have been trimmed in excess, posing threat to the citizens.
