Traffic restrictions will be imposed in Wagholi on Pune-Ahilyanagar Road from 3 pm on Tuesday, 22 September, until 2 am on Wednesday, 23 September, as public Ganesh festival groups hold their ninth-day immersion procession, Pune Traffic Police said.
The changes will affect vehicles travelling through the Wagholi section of the Nagar Road corridor. Traffic police have appealed to heavy vehicles and buses carrying passengers to use alternative routes during the procession so that movement can be managed in the area.
According to the traffic advisory reported by Loksatta, vehicles travelling from Pune towards Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Marathwada and Shirdi via the Ahilyanagar road should avoid the Wagholi stretch and use the route through Sadalbaba Chowk, Chandrama Chowk, Vishrantwadi, Alandi and Shikrapur.
Vehicles travelling towards Mumbai from Nagar Road have been advised to proceed via Shikrapur and Chakan. Vehicles entering Pune city from Nagar Road have been directed to use the Lonikand, Kesnand village and Theur Phata route before joining Pune-Solapur Road.
The procession is organised by public Ganesh festival groups in the Wagholi area on the ninth day of the festival. Traffic changes have been ordered to keep vehicles moving while the procession passes through the area, which is an important eastern approach to Pune and a route used by long-distance and passenger traffic.
Traffic Branch Deputy Commissioner Dr Sandeep Bhajibhakare appealed to motorists to cooperate with the traffic police and use the prescribed alternative routes. The advisory stated that the restrictions were being introduced because the procession would begin in Wagholi after 3 pm on 22 September and continue until midnight, with the traffic changes remaining in force until 2 am on 23 September.
Ambulances, fire brigade vehicles, police vehicles and other vehicles engaged in essential services have been exempted from the order. The exemption is significant for maintaining emergency access during the period when regular traffic movement on the corridor is being altered.
The traffic police have asked motorists to plan their journeys around the restriction window and follow instructions issued on the ground. The diversions will remain applicable until the scheduled end of the traffic arrangement at 2 am on Wednesday.
