Expressway chaos: Eight hours to reach Pune from Mumbai | Pune News
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PUNE: An unusually heavy rush of commuters from Mumbai to scenic Lonavala-Khandala, Pune and further to popular destinations like Mahabaleshwar and Goa led to chaos and disruption of vehicular movement along the Pune-Mumbai Expressway on Saturday morning.
The rush was attributed largely to the extended weekend. Travelling about 148km from Mumbai to Pune via the expressway took eight hours on Saturday. The usual travel time is three-and-a-half hours.
The situation was particularly bad on the stretches between Khalapur and Lonavala. Long queues of four-wheelers, light commercial and heavy vehicles were seen in multiple lanes, moving slowly towards Pune from Mumbai. Ditto on the stretch between Lonavala and Khandala for vehicles going to Mumbai.
The internal roads were also jam-packed. Most of the affected roads were leading to Pavana dam, Lohegad, Visapur, Karla, Bhaje, Bhushi dam, Rajmachi, Tikona, Tung, Lion’s Point, Tiger PointValvan, Shirota, Uksan and other picnic spots in the Lonavala-Khandala hill station.
“We left home around 7.30am and reached the Khalapur toll plaza around 9.45am. But following this, we spent another three hours to reach Lonavala. It was complete chaos and my car was moving at snail’s pace. We shall be staying in Lonavala for two days,” Aniruddha Choudhari of Thane told TOI.
Aundh resident Jagdish Kadam said, “We have a small bungalow at Tungarli. We generally spend our weekends there. On Saturday morning, we left home around 8am, but got stuck in the traffic after crossing the Sinhgad college near Lonavala. We reached our bungalow around 1pm. My family members and I were in the vehicle for almost five hours as the internal roads were also choked.”
A senior communication professional from Kharadi said, “It took me eight hours to reach Pune from Mumbai. The situation was particularly bad at the Khalapur toll post.”
For the past few days, it has been raining quite heavily in the Lonavla-Khandala section.
Inspector Sitaram Dubal of the Lonavla (City) police said, “The Pune corridor of the expressway remained jam in the morning hours, while the Mumbai corridor was moving at a slow pace. Later in the afternoon, the situation improved as the vehicles reached their destinations in and around Lonavla-Khandala. We manned the traffic on the expressway and the old Pune-Mumbai highway.”
He said, “The internal roads, too, remained choked till the afternoon, after the vehicles from Pune and Mumbai reached the hill station. The road leading to Bhushi dam and Amby Valley remained chock-a-block till late afternoon. In the evening, we cleared the traffic,” he said.
A highway safety patrol officer said, “We had anticipated the rush owing to the long weekend. Policemen were there on the road from early morning, but the number of vehicles was so high that they created bottlenecks at the entry and exits of the expressway. The number of vehicles reduced drastically in the afternoon.”
Watch Expressway chaos: Eight hours to reach Pune from Mumbai
The rush was attributed largely to the extended weekend. Travelling about 148km from Mumbai to Pune via the expressway took eight hours on Saturday. The usual travel time is three-and-a-half hours.
The situation was particularly bad on the stretches between Khalapur and Lonavala. Long queues of four-wheelers, light commercial and heavy vehicles were seen in multiple lanes, moving slowly towards Pune from Mumbai. Ditto on the stretch between Lonavala and Khandala for vehicles going to Mumbai.
The internal roads were also jam-packed. Most of the affected roads were leading to Pavana dam, Lohegad, Visapur, Karla, Bhaje, Bhushi dam, Rajmachi, Tikona, Tung, Lion’s Point, Tiger PointValvan, Shirota, Uksan and other picnic spots in the Lonavala-Khandala hill station.
“We left home around 7.30am and reached the Khalapur toll plaza around 9.45am. But following this, we spent another three hours to reach Lonavala. It was complete chaos and my car was moving at snail’s pace. We shall be staying in Lonavala for two days,” Aniruddha Choudhari of Thane told TOI.
Aundh resident Jagdish Kadam said, “We have a small bungalow at Tungarli. We generally spend our weekends there. On Saturday morning, we left home around 8am, but got stuck in the traffic after crossing the Sinhgad college near Lonavala. We reached our bungalow around 1pm. My family members and I were in the vehicle for almost five hours as the internal roads were also choked.”
A senior communication professional from Kharadi said, “It took me eight hours to reach Pune from Mumbai. The situation was particularly bad at the Khalapur toll post.”
For the past few days, it has been raining quite heavily in the Lonavla-Khandala section.
Inspector Sitaram Dubal of the Lonavla (City) police said, “The Pune corridor of the expressway remained jam in the morning hours, while the Mumbai corridor was moving at a slow pace. Later in the afternoon, the situation improved as the vehicles reached their destinations in and around Lonavla-Khandala. We manned the traffic on the expressway and the old Pune-Mumbai highway.”
He said, “The internal roads, too, remained choked till the afternoon, after the vehicles from Pune and Mumbai reached the hill station. The road leading to Bhushi dam and Amby Valley remained chock-a-block till late afternoon. In the evening, we cleared the traffic,” he said.
A highway safety patrol officer said, “We had anticipated the rush owing to the long weekend. Policemen were there on the road from early morning, but the number of vehicles was so high that they created bottlenecks at the entry and exits of the expressway. The number of vehicles reduced drastically in the afternoon.”
Watch Expressway chaos: Eight hours to reach Pune from Mumbai
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