Pune: Gokhale Nagar residents ask CM Eknath Shinde to visit again; have congestion-free, encroachment-free day
Pune: The area around the Shaheed Tukaram Ombale Ground in Gokhale Nagar wore a clean look on Friday (November 8). Kiosks, handcarts and vendors seen around the ground daily disappeared.
The police, along with a crane, were present on the road. Therefore, there was no traffic congestion in the area. The occasion was Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s poll rally for the Maha Yuti candidate Siddharth Shirole at the ground on Friday night.
Gokhale Nagar residents asked the CM to visit them again and again so that the locality would remain free from encroachments and traffic snarls.
The area has a pleasant atmosphere as it is located at the Vetal Tekdi foothills. But illegal constructions in the flood-affected people’s colony have aggravated the parking issue. Stalls and handcarts have been set up around three sides of the school ground by encroaching on the footpath. Students visiting these food stalls and their vehicles haphazardly parked on the roadside have been causing traffic issues in the area.
If a heavy vehicle enters the area, traffic jams take place. People are forced to walk on the road as the footpath has been encroached upon. Garbage is dumped in front of the old pumping station and the Baramati Hostel.
In this backdrop, CM Shinde’s rally was announced. The civic administration woke up early in the morning on Friday and started removing all encroachments. Sanitary workers cleaned the road twice. The Traffic Police increased their rounds, along with a crane, in the area to ensure that the road remains hurdle-free. Police officers and personnel were deployed around the area. They were not allowing any vehicle to halt on the road.
PMPML buses were taking a halt without any obstruction. Passengers got enough space to halt at the bus stops, which are usually occupied by customers visiting food stalls. All vendors on the road connecting Senapati Bapat Road to Gokhale Nagar were forcefully shut. Therefore, the entire area was not only looking clean but had no congestion.
As soon as the poll rally was over, vendors returned. On Saturday, the regular picture of encroachments and traffic snarls was visible. Local residents asked if the civic body can remove encroachments in one day, why can’t they do it regularly? Therefore, they asked the Chief Minister to visit their area again so that they can have an encroachment-free, snarl-free area.
