19-05-2025
Commuters demand decongestion of Magarpatta Chowk, allege lack of traffic cops
Magarpatta Chowk Road has become a nightmare for the residents and commuters in the wake of barricading arrangements undertaken by the traffic police department to decongest the road and the main chowk. The junction attracts traffic from Pune city, Hadapsar, Mundhwa and Solapur Road, making it one of the busiest road corridors and chowks in Eastern Pune.
The road corridor from Kalyan Jewellers to Magarpatta Chowk and a further two kilometres ahead towards Ahmednagar Road remains blocked with traffic during the peak hours of mornings and evenings, commuters allege. Further lack of adequate manpower of traffic police was affecting traffic management at the junction, residents said.
Sudheer Methekar, a senior citizen from Hadapsar, said, 'There is a need to post a large number of traffic cops at the crossing as it is a busy area comprising schools, business establishments, gardens and hospitals which are located nearby. Currently, it is becoming difficult to cross the road on foot and by two-wheelers.'
Sarika Pawar, another resident from Mundhwa, said, 'There is a steady inflow of vehicles, especially heavy vehicles and goods carriers from Mundhwa towards Magarpatta, which leads to traffic jams. The entire road corridor has to be redesigned as the PMC DP plan is currently not in place. Traffic chaos at Magarpatta does not seem likely to be solved till the end of monsoon.'
Police Inspector Dhananjay Pingale of the Hadapsar traffic branch said, 'To resolve the traffic crisis, we shut down the U-turn at the Magarpatta junction a few days ago to streamline traffic. We have requested the citizens to extend full cooperation and obey the laws to resolve the pending issues, if any, at the earliest.'
To improve traffic flow and reduce congestion, the Pune Traffic Police last week introduced traffic changes at Magarpatta Chowk (Noble Hospital Chowk) under the Hadapsar Division. These changes are being implemented on an experimental basis, and any previous parking-related orders in the area have been revoked. According to the traffic branch, it has ordered the closure of the U-turn at Magarpatta Chowk and vehicles are now required to take a U-turn at Vaidwadi Chowk instead.
