Weekend trippers clog E-way to Pune

Holiday-seekers rushing off for a weekend getaway have triggered heavy traffic snarls on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. To add to their woes, a heavy vehicle broke down on the Expressway, further retarding traffic on this route.

Traffic was halted for an hour in the morning after the heavy vehicle made an unsuccessful attempt to scale a mountain passage at Amrutanjan Bridge.

The vehicle got stuck on the bridge towards Pune. We had to get a crane and remove the vehicle from the road, which took almost half an hour. We were able to clear the traffic by 11.30 am,” said M.K. Dhaikar, police naik, Khalapur Highway.

Traffic moved at tardy pace for almost 10-12 km from the Amrutanjan Bridge towards Khalapur. The traffic police had to divert traffic to the old Mumbai-Pune highway hampering traffic there also. However, traffic was smooth on the other side of Expressway from Pune towards the city. “It takes just an hour to reach Lonavala from the city, but on Saturday, commuters took almost four to five hours to traverse the same distance, said the traffic police.

“Heavy traffic flow on the E-way had started since 6 am itself but became sluggish only by 10 am. Twice the usual number of vehicles have used the E-way today triggering traffic snarls till 6 to 7 pm. The police had to deploy an additional force of 12 constables and four officers to control them,” said Ajit Patil, assistant police inspector, Khandala, Highway.

“Tourists are travelling to holiday destinations such as Khandala, Lonavala, Murud and religious places like Pali the week has consecutive holidays. Monday is a holiday owing to Independence Day. Again, Pateti and Rakshabandhan fall on Wednesday and Thursday respectively. Hence, many are travelling,” he added.