By Sana Menon
the Ghorpadi railway crossing, traffic wardens are forever struggling to streamline the road traffic. The bottleneck roads and permanent traffic snarls are a nuisance to the commuters. Every five minutes on an average the girders block the road. The traffic gets unruly and chaotic once the girders go up. Commuter’s demand of an over bridge at the Ghorpadi railway crossing remains unfulfilled.

The situation prevails throughout the day. The scenario is nasty during peak hours when the vehicular density increases. This not only poses a problem to the steady flow of the traffic but causes a large number of accidents. Tiffs and arguments are the order of the day. Potholes and the uneven roads add to the chaos. Heavy vehicles plying on this narrow stretch increase the problem.

The traffic wardens employed by Bharat Forge are frequently at the receiving end. Commuters disobey them, hurl abuses and even beat them up. With a meager salary of Rs. 4200 per month these men work tirelessly bearing the brunt of the frustration.
Regular commuters annoyed by the state of affairs have demanded an over bridge over at the Ghorpadi railway crossing. The plan for the same was mooted years ago. However nothing has materialized has yet. The three departments- Pune Municipal Corporation, central railway and defense ministry in charge of the construction have varied opinions. While the defense ministry wants compensation for the land, PMC has to fund the construction, and relocate the locals. The railway department has problems with the design and technicalities involved in the construction.

The Ghorpadi railway crossing has a Y branching of roads at both the ends. Thus the design and construction of the over bridge is challenging. The local residents are not ready to co operate. They do not want to let go of their land holdings for any compensation.

With all these hindrances, the project isn’t seeing the light of the day. However an easy solution to the problem is available. Says traffic warden, —

If heavy vehicles are banned on this stretch, potholes are filled, street lights are installed then the traffic woes will reduce considerably” he further adds, “The heavy vehicles can use the Magarpatta by pass, which is now avoided to save a distance of 2kms.

These measures should be immediately enforced at least on a temporary basis. Hope that all traffic problems at the Ghorpadi railway crossing are addressed instantly and prompt action is taken.