Massive Traffic Jams On Pune–Mumbai & Other Highways As People Return After Diwali Holidays - VIDEOS

Pune: As Diwali holidays have come to an end, a siege of migrant people going towards Pune and Mumbai can be seen on the major national and state highways connecting these cities to other parts of Maharashtra and India. With this being a weekend and people getting back to their professional schedules on Monday, people have started coming back to the city. This also includes a few detours to the famous tourist destinations like Mahabaleshwar, Lonavala, Sinhagad, Bhimashankar, and others before the party gets home.

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From Saturday morning, queues of vehicles were seen on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, Pune-Bengaluru National Highway, Pune-Nashik Highway, Solapur Road, Nagar Road, and Hindu Hrudayasamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg (Samruddhi Highway). Some key bottlenecks took over an hour to pass, residents reported.

Particularly, the National Highway Number 4 from Pune to Bengaluru is filled with development works, and diversions are placed there near key cities like Ishwarpur, Karad, and Satara. The normal five-hour journey turns to seven or eight hours with these diversions.

Millions of people who live in Mumbai and Pune are not natives here. As Diwali is a festival that is celebrated on a large scale with family, these migrant people went to their hometowns for Diwali. Consequently, huge traffic was seen last weekend on the lanes going from Mumbai and Pune towards other parts of Maharashtra. But this weekend, the same traffic is now coming back, and the beginning of it was seen on Saturday as multiple highways were reportedly clogged due to high vehicular movements.

Saksham Manjarekar (23, Mumbai) told The Free Press Journal, “I went to my native place, Karad, and had to travel to Chakan, as my work begins on Monday. I left home at 7 am and saw traffic at Tasawade, Atit, Satara, Anewadi, and Mahabaleshwar Phata. Surprisingly, the traffic was less at Katraj-Dehu Road Bypass and within the Pimpri-Chinchwad city too. However, again I saw huge traffic lanes on the opposing side of the Nashik Highway.”

Meanwhile, traffic police of Pimpri-Chinchwad and Pune Rural have taken steps to make sure there is no severe traffic congestion on the highways under their jurisdiction. “Personnel will be kept on the expressway and the Old Mumbai-Pune Highway to manage traffic. We urge residents to be patient and drive safely. Efforts have been made to avoid traffic congestion,” said a senior traffic police officer of the Pimpri-Chinchwad Traffic Branch.