Residents and commuters on Sinhagad Road are demanding that the newly constructed bridge be opened for public use without waiting for a formal inauguration ceremony. Daily traffic congestion in the area has reached unbearable levels, with thousands of citizens facing unnecessary delays and inconveniences.
Locals say the situation is causing immense hardship and that the bridge should be made operational immediately to ease the traffic woes.
'Why are we waiting?'
Jagruti Katkar, a resident of Dhayari, said, "It is very tiresome to keep waiting for the inauguration of the public infrastructure. It is leading to huge traffic on Sinhagad Road. If it is ready, why are we waiting? PMC should just open it for residents."
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Mahesh Pokale said, "We are being told that the bridge will be inaugurated on August 15. We are waiting for it to open soon, as the traffic conditions are getting worse day by day. This bridge will ease the traffic flow, hopefully. The only objection we have is that the government will spend at least Rs 25 lakh for its grand opening and inauguration. Both the bridges are the same, the tenders are the same, but if you notice, the electric poles on both the newly constructed flyovers are different, and that's an issue. If they can spend a huge amount on the opening, then why are the poles on both bridges different? And also, it should be made available for use at the earliest. Why wait if it's already ready to use?"
'It will ease traffic congestion'
Siddharth Gaikwad, another resident of the area, said, "We have been waiting for this bridge to open. It will ease the traffic congestion and also save a lot of our time, which gets wasted waiting at the traffic jams."
One wing of the Rajaram Bridge–Wadgaon Budruk flyover was thrown open to vehicles on May 1 after a long wait. The flyover wing was launched in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, MPs Murlidhar Mohol and Medha Kulkarni, and others. PMC began flyover work in 2021. The administration claims it made adequate provisions for Metro pillars while constructing the flyover to avoid complications. People have been waiting for the other wing to open. The commuters, who faced hardship for the last three years owing to flyover work and re-routed traffic flow, can now expect some relief.
The municipal administration had announced that the inauguration of the 1.5-kilometre-long flyover between Manikbaug and Hingne in the third phase would be held on June 15. However, it got delayed due to the monsoon, and the inauguration dates were extended to August.
'Some technical work is pending'
Speaking to The Free Press Journal, Dinkar Godraje, PMC's Superintending Engineer, said, "The work on the Sinhagad Road flyover connecting Indian Hume Pipe to Inamdar Chowk is mostly completed, only some technical work is pending, and by today or tomorrow the dates will be finalised by the Additional Commissioner. It will be opened for the public at the earliest."
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