Union Home Minister Amit Shah's Pune visit on Friday disrupted routine life in the city, with major impacts seen on school schedules and traffic flow. For security reasons, the traffic police had implemented multiple traffic restrictions, especially on routes including Katraj to Mantarwadi and Bundgarden to Circuit House Chowk. Between 12 noon and 5pm, the movement of heavy vehicles like goods trucks, dumpers, mixers, and other slow-moving traffic was strictly prohibited on these roads.
Traffic patterns were also modified to manage congestion. Two-way traffic was temporarily allowed on certain one-way stretches, and traffic police were deployed across key junctions to manage the traffic. Due to these arrangements, many schools in the affected areas either declared a full holiday or conducted sessions online. Morning-session schools were dismissed 1.5 to 2 hours earlier than usual to avoid peak traffic hours.
This sudden shift due to VIP movement forced many parents to rearrange their work schedules, while employees also faced challenges commuting to and from offices.
Dilip Vishwakarma, an activist, said, âPeople have to face so much inconvenience due to these VIP movements. The traffic route was altered, and office-goers had to wait, and parents who came to drop their kids off at schools also faced inconvenience. Some of the schools were closed, but why is the daily routine getting impacted because of VIP movement? Also, the Union Minister could have flown to NDA instead of using the roadways. The NDA has a runway, and the Lohegaon airport is also owned by the defence, so why all this parade?â
âA few days ago, Union Transport and Highway Minister Nitin Gadkari visited Pune, and due to the bad traffic, he had to cancel his next programme. This says a lot about the cityâs growing traffic issues. In situations like this, if the traffic is halted or altered, imagine the plight of the common people,â added Vishwakarma.
Aishwarya Mohanti, a mother and an IT professional, said, âMost of the schools along the Katraj to Uruli Devachi stretch were closed. My daughter is in the Bishopâs Co-Ed School in Undri, and the school notified us that it would remain closed on Friday. But I feel this is so unfair. If a minister is coming, why do they have to make a big fuss about it and disrupt the normal routine of the people? This shows that people can be simply disposed of and are nothing in front of big politicians. They call themselves peopleâs representatives. Funny, isnât it?â
While some citizens questioned the inconvenience caused to the general public, especially students and working individuals, others took to social media to highlight how VIP movements often overshadow everyday civic life.
