Mishaps abound at Ramwadi junction; PMC, traffic police shirk responsibility

Bad roads, poor traffic regulation and heavy vehicles make the ideal recipe for accidents. And Ramwadi junction has it all. Yet both the civic body and the traffic police are content doing precious little about it. A subway project that was envisaged to address this particular problem has been tardy in progress. Statistics available with the Yerawada police and the traffic department show that no less than 10 persons are injured every week in accidents at this junction. Secondly, most of the accident victims were in the age group of 18-35 years, and almost all of them were on two-wheelers.


No light at the end of the road: The defunct traffic signal at Ramwadi
junction. pic/Neha Taneja

This reporter surveyed the accident-prone spot and observed that non-functioning traffic signals, a no-show by traffic policemen and trucks, tourist buses plying on the roads at night were the main culprits behind the frequent mishaps.u00a0 Absence of a proper turn towards Viman Nagar for vehicles coming from Kalyani Nagar has also exacerbated the parlous situation.

Blame game
Not helping matters is the passing-the-buck exercise conveniently adopted by both the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and the traffic department. Local residents and shopkeepers in the area have witnessed many accidents in this area. "The subway has been under construction for the past three years and there is no hope the work will be completed anytime soon," said a shopkeepers.

Nandkrishna Karale, executive engineer, PMC, said the subway work was on hold because of a property dispute.
"The case is being heard in the city court and once the court issues orders, the work will be completed in a span of two months," he said.

Assistant Police Inspector (Traffic) Prakash Raskar said: "The traffic signals are not being used because of the ongoing subway work. But the PMC is taking too long to complete the underpass." On the turn towards Viman Nagar he said, "We have put up a barricade so that the vehicles heading towards Viman Nagar from Kalyani Nagar can take a swift turn towards their destination. But that is not working because drivers are used to taking short cuts, which becomes fatat."

A police officer from the Ramwadi police chowky said: "The construction of the subway is the major cause of haphazard driving and heavy traffic at this junction. The PMC have not made any arrangements for vehicles to take a safe turn."