PUNE: A 23km stretch from Wagholi to Kondhapuri on the Pune-Ahmednagar highway will now remain out of the bounds for heavy vehicles during the peak commuting hours from 5am to 8am and 5pm to 8.30pm daily.A notification to this effect issued by Pune district collector Naval Kishor Ram is aimed at providing a relief from frequent traffic snarls witnessed on this stretch, which is used by people to travel to the industrial hubs of Ranjangaon, Shikrapur and Sanaswadi along the busy highway from Pune.A couple of junctions at Lonikand and Shikrapur also connect the highway with the pilgrim town of Alandi and the industrial hub of Chakan, respectively.A bulk of the traffic, including heavy vehicles, moving from areas like Theur and Kesnand towards Alandi and from Shikrapur to Chakan have to cross the Ahmednagar highway at these junctions, which often causes traffic snarls on either sides of the highway. The rush generated by weekly and daily markets at places like Koregaon Bhima and Shikrapur contributes to the congestion on the highway as well.To avoid this situation during peak commuting hours in morning and evening, the industrial bodies were seeking restrictions on the movement of heavy vehicles. “The collector’s notification will help in considerably reducing the peak time congestion of vehicles along this important stretch of the highway,” an officer from the Pune Rural police said. At least 323 people have died in accidents on this stretch from 2013, he said.Superintendent of Pune Rural police Sandeep Patil said, “The decision to restrict heavy vehicles during peak hours along the highway has been taken after an elaborate survey.”Sunil Godse, the Pune Rural police’s traffic in-charge said, “The carriageway of the highway is relatively narrow and roadside encroachments further eat into this space. Most vehicles moving along this stretch barely get much space for smooth movement. This has also contributed to fatal accidents.”Over 200 large, medium and small industrial units are located at the hubs along the highway, which is used extensively by heavy vehicles. As of now, the police have deployed 15 personnel at vantage points to monitor traffic movement along this stretch.“Wrong-side driving is a big issue. Many villagers living close to the highway drive their vehicles in opposite direction, posing grave concern to daily commuters. We have implemented special drives, but to no avail. We are contemplating a traffic awareness drive in these villages,” assistant police inspector Ramdas Shelke, traffic in-charge of the highway, said.The highway does not have adequate infrastructure, such as traffic signals, road side reflectors, caution boards, among others. “We are in the process of addressing this issue. There are several punctures created on road dividers either by villagers or the ‘dhabha’ owners for their convenience and commercial interest. We will plug these punctures soon,” a senior police officer said. “This issue was conveyed to the district administration in the past, but there was no action,” he said, adding many fatal accidents took place at these junctions.A senior manager of a private company of Ranjangaon MIDC said restriction on heavy vehicle movement during peak commuting hours is the first concrete taken by the district administration over the last one decade. “To travel 30km, we need at least two hours each in the morning and evening hours. On several occasions, we either had to postpone our crucial meetings or cancel them due to the traffic issue,” he added.

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