Myroadiary: Letter to Pune Collector on Pune-Ranjangaon Road

Copy of the letter despatched to Pune Collector on 23 April 2012

State Highway 60 (Pune-Nagar Road)

Attn: Mr Vikas Deshmukh, District Collector, Pune, Govt of Maharashtra

Mr Ganesh Patil, Additional District Collector, Pune, Govt of Maharashtra

Dear Mr Deshmukh & Mr Patil

Greetings.

Let me introduce myself first. I am 56, author of 10,000 KM on Indian Highways, and Publisher of Supply Chain India weekly newsletter.

I have been travelling for the past two years in commercial vehicles to understand the challenges faced by heavy commercial vehicles on Indian highways (both national and state). And am now onto my next book - again focused on highways.

Recently, I had an opportunity to visit Pune and travelled between Chakan and Pune and Pune and Ranjangaon to understand the challenges faced by the Pune-based industries on state highways.

This time, my focus was on SH 60 linking Pune with Ahmednagar. However, I had restricted my focus to Pune and Ranjangaon, labelled as a FIVE STAR Industrial Estate of Maharashtra govt.

Visiting various industries in Ranjangaon belt exposed me to the vagaries of transport challenges faced by the occupants of this excellent indsutrial estate.

A few observations about SH 60 between Pune and Ranjangaon:

(a) This stretch is a high density traffic zone with both raw materials and finished goods shuttling between these two joints.

(b) Traffic congestions at various villages dotting this highway is a big challenge for industries operating in Ranjangaon

(c) Weekly bazaars in various weekdays on this stretch add to the congestion.

(d) The Temple on the highway closer to Ranjangaon village creates additional bottleneck on almost all days. Less said about the festival scene, the better.

(e) The huge movement of trucks from a quarry situated closed to the highway creatdes twin problems: one, it adds to the traffic. secondly, the uncovered quarry load vehicles spill their wares onto the tarmac, thus making driving difficult.

(f) Absence of signal near Shikapur crossing during peak hours is a menace. I was witness to two traffic constables battling to manage heavy traffic.

(g) Lack of traffic/road discipline by large passenger car owners of the intermittent villages is another headache.

(h) The long entry/exit restrictions on Talegon-Chakan-Ranjangaon needs a fresh relook to ease smooth movement of raw materials and finished goods.

(i) Kindly remove the advertising bills stuck on milestones and headlight breakers in the traffic dividers.

Auto industry is one of the biggest sufferers. In order to keep their cost as low as low possible and generate more employment in the state, these companies have resorted to large scale outsourcing. As part of this, they would like to introduce 'just in time' manufacturing framework. But they are unable to implement this policy due to highway challenges. When production hits a low bar, state's revenue too impacted.

I request you to look into these issues and kindly do the needful.

I plan to visit Pune again in May/June this year.

Look forward to meeting you, Sirs

Warm regards
--

Ramesh Kumar

Handphone: +919711544181

Socialmedia: twitter.com/konsultramesh

www.10000kmonindianhighways.com

Photo Gallery:

First Hurdle (from Pune to Ranjangaon): Wagholi village crossing. Mile long trucks and passenger cars.

Hurdle 2: The intersection where lorries come from quarry creating traffic snarl and leading to accidents (see below) regularly.

Hurdle: Weekly mandis in villages dotting this highway, block smooth flow of all types of vehicles throughout the day. Several villages and different mandi days.

Hurdle: Mandir on highway. Devotees park their vehicles on the road, thus reducing space for vehicle movement. On festival days and wedding days, the entire stretch will be blocked on both sideds for hours together.

Who has given permission for these bills to be posted? Authorities should initiate action. Finding these culprits is not difficult because their contact details are given in the bills!