Traffic has become a key consideration for daily commutes in many cities across India. To ease congestion, Nitin Gadkari has announced many projects, and one of the latest is in Pune, a proposed tunnel, that will ease traffic congestion. However, when the minister went to visit the site, he was stuck in traffic himself, and had to return without visiting the site. Here’s what happened.
Pune’s Shaniwar Wada tunnel project
To decongest traffic in Pune, the Minister, Nitin Gadkari, had announced a tunnel project from Shaniwar Wada to Swargate, and from Saras Baug to Shaniwar Wada, however, Nitin Gadkari himself, along with his convoy, got stuck in traffic while visiting and had to cancel.
Firstly, Gadkari’s flight landed late, which caused a ripple effect, delaying his schedule. The local police had blocked a few roads to facilitate the smooth arrival of the Highways minister, however, as time passed, traffic came to a standstill, and adding to the woes was the rain.
Gadkari arrived at the Shaniwar Wada site, and post paying his tributes, he was headed towards the Swargate for the project inspection along with a local MLA. On his way, Gadkari was stuck in traffic again and the ML decided to turn around and head back, without the minister visiting the site.
Speaking to media at the site, a policeman said, “It was a Monday, during office hours when traffic is at its peak, and handling a huge convoy of a Union Minister is not easy. This led to traffic congestion at Bajirao Road and around Shaniwar Wada despite there being an adequate number of traffic police.”
Localites also pointed towards the traffic saying when the Union Minister himself cannot make it owing to traffic, this has to be considered from a common man’s point of view and hoped that the project comes to life soon.