PUNE: Massive traffic jams, especially in the evening, on Law College Road as well as on Prabhat Road have become a nuisance for residents and commuters alike.“During weekdays, there is a huge flow of traffic during peak hours. But even on weekends, roads are not free from traffic. It takes as much as half an hour to commute from one end of Law College Road to another. We generally try to avoid Law College Road during peak hours in order to avoid getting stuck in traffic,” said Isha Jalan , a local resident.Jalan said that over the years, people have started using Prabhat Road to avoid traffic on Law College Road. “Prabhat Road was once a quiet street sans much traffic. Most motorists take Prabhat Road to avoid congestion on Law College. This increased traffic movement coupled with vehicles parked on either side of the road has created a traffic nightmare on Prabhat Road,” she stated.She further added that despite having a police station and a police chowky on Prabhat Road, there has hardly been any respite from traffic jams. “Though there is a traffic division at Deccan Gymkhana police station, we have never seen policeman manning traffic on either of the roads. People rampantly break rules in order to reach faster and this causes congestion at junctions. Sometimes, we see people stepping out of their vehicles to man traffic. If signals cannot be installed at smaller junctions on Prabhat Road, there must be a policeman to maintain the flow of traffic at least,” Jalan explained.A resident of Law College Road, Rajvardhan Kadam said, “It is generally difficult to enter and exit the bylanes of Law College Road due to traffic in the area and it becomes almost impossible during peak hours. The pace of the vehicles is slow and snarls develop on main road as well as bylanes.”Kadam said that alternative routes to connect Karve Road to Senapati Bapat Road are a necessity to ease traffic in the area. “Some road widening work is underway near SNDT College and Canal Road but I do not know to what extent that will help in stemming the flow of traffic on Law College Road. It is not possible to widen Law College Road and only a better traffic management can bring relief to residents,” he said.DCP Traffic, Ashok Morale said that the ongoing metro work on Karve Road has led to “pressure” in terms of traffic in all surrounding areas. “We are devising a plan to ease traffic on Law College Road by routing incoming traffic from SB Road through SNDT Road and onwards to Nal Stop. Currently, SNDT Road is a one-way road for traffic from Karve Road to Law College. Soon, the road will be made two-way to ease traffic in the area,” he said.Speaking about traffic jams on Prabhat Road, Morale said, “We agree that people do drive on the wrong side or cause congestion in a hurry. We will identify spots where we can station police personnel to man traffic and also initiate action against those violating traffic rules.”

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