JM road traffic situation improves after Pune police implement new measures

A day after Pune traffic police introduced a five-point action plan to decongest Jangli Maharaj (JM) road and adjacent areas, the situation on Monday was better compared to the previous two weeks.

A team of over ten traffic police officials from Shivajinagar traffic branch led by assistant police inspector Amit Ghule swung into action and cleared traffic on JM road, starting Bal Gandharva Chowk up to Deccan Chowk. The team began manning traffic from 5pm onwards and cleared the chronic spot which connects JM road to Z-bridge. The policemen directed commuters to follow lane discipline at the spot where commuters were seen crisscrossing the chowk at their own will. The policemen later went to Deccan Chowk and cleared traffic by stopping the two-wheelers which came from the no-entry area near the Deccan bus stand.

Ghule said, “The chronic spots of acute traffic accumulation are being dealt with on a priority basis to make commuting safe and quick for motorists. Based on the complaints and feedback, action is being taken to decongest the entire area. We will take further action in the next few days to streamline the process.”

Vihar Durve, a JM road resident, said, “We require regular traffic management at the spot. The road has become crowded and a long-term solution is needed.”

Hindustan Times in its Monday edition reported about long snarls on JM road and the five-point plan of traffic branch to ease the situation.

Pune traffic police have come up with a few concrete measures like deploying a special team of traffic policemen under the guidance of the divisional police inspector (PI) to patrol and decongest JM road and stop abrupt parking on the city roads, encourage two-wheelers to use Z bridge instead of Bhide bridge and also resort to strict CCTV based monitoring of the central areas which have been prone to routine traffic congestion.

Deputy commissioner of police ( traffic) Rahul Shrirame, said, “As part of the five-point decongestion plan, we took action in terms of discouraging commuters found abruptly parking on JM road. At the same time, we are streaming traffic on Z bridge and Deccan area. We have observed that traffic in the entire central area gets blocked due to potholes and unruly traffic including sudden and haphazard parking on J M road. Currently, we will focus on regulation but later strict penalties are in the offing,” he said.