Pune: Way back in March 2024 when we were made aware that PIL with regards to Pune’s traffic problem that was filed in 2015 had come up for hearing, we took the bold step to give some simple suggestions directly to the Hon’ble High Court with copies to CM, both DCMs and Police Commissioner about the immediate steps that need to be taken to overhaul the system.

Mainly the onus has always been on the State Govt. to accept & review prevalent systems as there are inherent deep rooted reasons why public is faced with traffic jams and bad quality roads, said Qaneez Sukhrani,Convenor – Association of Nagar Road Citizens Forum.

Here is what the Association says:

FIRST State must recognise & accept that there is a problem which cannot be dealt by recurring crisis management only.

SECOND State Govt has to form a high level committee comprising of serving & retired IAS & IPS officers and experts which should be available periodically to review the system.

THIRD Senior officers at State level must recognize that there is an issue that cannot be put on the back burner, but must be dealt with sooner than later.

Old bad habits do not die, State Govt MUST issue following orders that changes in the existing bad system will allows PMC/ PCMC as planning authorities to take the lead and plan & lay new, repair & maintain pathways in an arbitrary manner.

That such changes will allow citizens to lead less stressful lives by not spending half their lives on the roads.

That all agencies, planning authorities mainly PMC, PCMC, Police, RTO, MSRDC, Maha-Metro, MSEDCL, MNGL, Cable companies, etc work in co-ordination with each other, not in conflict.

That all authorities such as PMC, PCMC, NHAI, MahaMetro, PMRDA, PWD, MGNL, etc must seek Police NOC first (giving fixed start & finish timelines) before start-up of any road related project so Police that is equipped to deal with traffic diversions & related issues to make adequate provisions for additional staff deployment, so that traffic flow management can be managed smoothly with least inconvenience to public.

That Police must lead and be in the forefront instead of just doing crisis management after PMC / PCMC / various authorities have created the problem due to bad planning & lack of co-ordination.

That the Police must set up an exclusive division with minimum 2-3 qualified traffic planners who are civil engineers so they approve any road related project plan end-to-end (on paper, maps & site visits) before actual execution by PMC / PCMC begins.

That PMC / PCMC must conduct traffic related surveys by qualified surveyor and submit it to Police traffic planning division for NOC, approval & suggestions before execution of any project actually starts.

That high cost projects such as bridges, flyovers, grade-seperators maybe executed only if required BUT only after necessary traffic related qualified study & survey is conducted to establish it’s necessity. And only after Police NOC.

That State must make it their focus to concentrate on land acquisition for proposed circular 128 km Ring Road that will take away mainly heavy vehicular and intercity traffic that currently criss-crosses through Pune city.

That in the meantime, notices be issued to BAN heavy vehicles from plying on city roads during peak hours.

That notices be sent to factories & manufacturing units that heavy vehicles & container trailers must NOT be parked / halted on public roads, streets but only on their own premises.

That notices be issued to construction companies and garbage vehicles NOT to ply on city roads, streets & lanes during peak hours. In case of any emergency, material must be transferred to 407 & 709 tempos

That Police gets approval for increase in personnel to fill vacancies in Pune & PCMC to reach target numbers so it can deal with all traffic related movement in an efficient way (it is a known fact that only half the vacancies are filled).

That PMC / PCMC be instructed to protect Pedestrian Rights and make encroachment free all footpaths so that pedestrians are given due dignity and are safely away from motorized traffic.

That PMC & PCMC implement 2016 Pay & Park Policy, 2016 Pedestrian Policy & 2017 Pune Cycle Plan.

That PMC & PCMC re-locate hawkers / vendors from all designated non-hawking zones and create new ones to ease traffic mobility & obstructions on roads.

That Police be given over-riding powers to evict illegal encroachments, hawkers, vendors.

That PMC / PCMC be ordered to widen roads, streets, lanes proportionately according to DP 2017 (Development Plan).

That MSRTC buses only halt at bus depots to embark & disembark passengers (such as existing Swargate & Pune Station) and not anywhere they please.

That PMPML does route rationalization of their fleet so that long bodied buses are replaced with mini buses, especially in residential areas so it takes away burden to allow space for traffic movement.

That a committee be formed, separate for PMC & PCMC to discuss on a monthly / bi-monthly level (a) new projects (b) existing projects (c) pain points on existing projects (d) etc. PUMTA Chairman should head this committee.

That notices be sent to all schools, colleges, private companies & luxury coach companies that they must use NOT use public roads, streets & lanes for parking / halting.

That parking / halting is strictly prohibited within 50m of any intersection, kerb, junction, etc .

That PMC / PCMC must concentrate on building a robust public transport system so that CMP (Comprehensive Mobility Plan) takes effect on focus to reduce private vehicles.

That all pathways, roads, lanes, footpaths, chowks in projects in new areas should be according to USDG 2016 Guidelines. For old areas, PMC / PCMC + Police in-house designing team of urban planners + engineers must step in to find solutions to existing bad designs which cause chaos.

That traffic calming islands should be re-designed to allow more room for vehicle movements. No boards, flexes, hoardings, obstructions should be allowed in traffic islands to obstruct flow.

That notice-boards are installed on footpaths & cycle tracks to ban encroachments & parking. This board will have joint notices from PMC / PCMC & Police.

That PMC / PCMC design & re-design speed-breakers according to PMC’s Breaker Policy Guidelines, IRC Norms & Hon’ble High Court Orders to avoid accidents due to various types of wrongly designed and installed speed-breakers and at wrong places.

That PMC ensures it’s own Trenching Policy Guidelines is used for all road related trenching activity by contractors but only after Police NOC is on record.

That PMC / PCMC ensures installation of ITMS (Integrated Traffic Management System) & CCTVs at major inter-sections. Monitoring should be done by Police, not PMC / PCMC.

That RTO does frequent surveys to check stands for autos, buses, etc. to ensure they do not wait anywhere they please. RTO also must discharge it’s responsibility to ensure that stands are not overburdened by more autos than authorized.

That strict action must be taken against all commercial vehicles i.e. autos, buses, private radio taxicabs, heavy vehicles, tempos, etc who just park anywhere on roads, footpaths & cycle tracks as this decreases road width for smooth mobility. There must be a strict ban for commercial vehicles to be parked on public lanes, streets & roads.

That multi-modal parking must be created by PMC /PCMC as per final Development Plan. In this event, commercial vehicles will get off roads which will increase smooth mobility and increase width for vehicles on all pathways. 

That PMC & PCMC must focus on and conduct deep cleaning / clearing after any public construction project is completed by clearing side margins of all roads, streets & lanes from debris, mud & slush to prevent unsafe, unusable conditions due to water logging.

That PMC & PCMC to fill potholes and maintain roads in the correct technical procedure according to STAC Report according to HC Order PIL 111 of 2006, HC Order in sou moto PIL no. 71 of 2013 and RDRMC 2016