TRAFFIC STOPPAGES by Pune city police on several arterial and connecting roads on Tuesday evening to allow passage of the cavalcade of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, led to traffic congestion and snarls in many areas for brief periods. Police said while these stoppages were for short periods, they led to bumper to bumper vehicles at several points during peak hour.
Modi on Tuesday evening addressed a rally at the SP College Ground off Tilak Road to campaign for the candidates of Mahayuti in Pune. Pune city traffic police had earlier announced road closures and traffic diversions on several roads. They had also notified four arterial roads as ‘no parking’ areas for Tuesday. Traffic closures were announced for Kelkar Road, Deccan Gymkhana area and Ambil Odha area. No parking areas were notified in Yerawada, Jangali Maharaj Road, Fergusson College Road and Shastri Road.
“In addition to the road closures and diversions we had announced, we had to enforce multiple traffic stoppages on the arterial roads and small roads connecting the route of the VVIP cavalcade. This did lead to brief congestion and slowing down of traffic in Yerawada, Sangamwadi, Deccan, Tilak Road and their connecting roads,” said a Pune police officer.
The officer added, “We had made the maximum possible deployment of police force which included additional forces brought in from outside Maharashtra. Adequate force was deployed to man the traffic at the planned diversions and also in the areas where we expected the snarls after the brief stoppages. The load of the traffic coming for the rally added to the Tuesday evening peak congestion.”
When the PM’s cavalcade returned to the airport, a large number of people had gathered at the barricaded footpaths of the Jangali Maharaj Road and Fergusson College Road to greet him.
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