Traffic on Mumbai-Bengaluru Highway and other connecting roads will be halted at Chandani Chowk in Pune for 30 minutes everyday for controlled blasting of rocks as the construction work is in progress for a new bridge and a service road.The traffic will be stopped on both corridors of Mumbai-Bengaluru highway between 12:30 am and 1 am.
This comes a day after a very heavy traffic jam was reported Sunday afternoon after authorities enforced a traffic block for 20 minutes for the controlled blasting. It took over an hour for the restoration of normal traffic flow, following which, the police directed the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to apply traffic blocks only at night.
A press statement from the NHAI issued through the District Information Office said, “For the construction of the new bridge and service roads at Chandani Chowk, rock blasting is being undertaken in the area. Towards this work, the traffic on the highway and other connecting roads at Chandani Chowk will be stopped between 12.30 am to 1 am everyday from October 10 till the completion of the work.”
The statement quoted NHAI Project Director SS Kadam as saying, “We appeal citizens to cooperate with us and take note of the traffic blocks. Meanwhile the traffic congestion at Chandani Chowk has been partially eased after three lanes have been made available for Satara to Pune traffic and four lanes for Pune to Satara flow.” Earlier this month, a 30-year-old bridge at Chandani Chowk in Pune was demolished partly by controlled explosion and partly by using heavy machinery, to make way for the construction of a new bridge.
Various agencies had expedited their efforts to resolve traffic jams at and around Chandani Chowk area after the convoy of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde got stuck in a jam in the last week of August. The demolition of the old bridge at Chandani Chowk, which was earlier scheduled to be done by the NHAI in the second week of September, was finally completed in the early hours of October 2.