Subheadline: Thousands of IT workers and residents joined a silent march in Pune’s Hinjewadi area, demanding action on road safety, traffic congestion and water supply.
PUNE | September 7, 2026
Thousands of information-technology workers and residents marched through Pune’s Hinjewadi area on Sunday, demanding safer roads, relief from persistent traffic congestion and a more reliable water supply in and around the Rajiv Gandhi Infotech Park. The protest followed complaints about deteriorating infrastructure and came after participants said 37 people had died in accidents in the area over the past two years.
The silent march, organised under the banner of the ‘Smart IT City Sankalp’ campaign, began at the Infosys Circle inside the IT park. Participants first paid tribute to people they said had lost their lives in road accidents during the previous two years. The march then proceeded through Shivaji Chowk and returned to Infosys Chowk, where it concluded with the national anthem, according to a report by Loksatta – Pune.
The protesters’ demands included roads without potholes, measures to prevent accidents, action to reduce traffic congestion and adequate water supply. IT employees, local residents, farmers, senior citizens and children took part in the demonstration. Women IT employees led the march, while several resident and employee organisations also joined the mobilisation.
The participating groups included the Residents Welfare Association Maan, the Hinjewadi-Maan-Marunji Infra Forum, the Forum for IT Employees, the Hinjewadi Employees and Residents Trust, the Pimpri-Chinchwad Co-operative Housing Federation and the Mulshi Co-operative Housing Federation. The demonstration was described as peaceful, with participants carrying placards outlining their demands.
Nationalist Congress Party MP Supriya Sule, who represents the Sharad Pawar faction, criticised the condition of roads and public infrastructure in the area and said residents should not have to protest to secure basic services. She said the deterioration of infrastructure in a location that contributes to India’s industrial and information-technology sectors was unfortunate and represented a failure of the government and public agencies, according to the report.
Sule also referred to a ‘single-point authority’ announced by the chief minister for the area about a year ago. She said the expected improvements had not followed the announcement and that conditions remained unchanged. She called for urgent improvement of roads and other infrastructure in and around the IT park.
Shiv Sena leader and MLA Aaditya Thackeray also participated in the march and extended support to the protest. The presence of political leaders added visibility to demands that have been raised by workers’ and residents’ groups over road conditions, transport delays and basic services in the Hinjewadi-Maan-Marunji area.
The protesters said that millions of citizens, IT employees and students face traffic congestion in the area every day. They attributed the reported deaths to accidents linked to poor road conditions and said government agencies had continued to overlook the problems. The groups demanded that the government set a deadline for resolving the road, traffic and water-supply issues.
The report did not provide details of a new government order, a confirmed implementation schedule or a formal response from the agencies responsible for the area. The next steps sought by the protesters are a time-bound government response and improvements to roads, traffic management and water supply.
