Seven roads, all packed with traffic, converge at the Omkar Garden Chowk underpass in Bavdhan, Pune. The situation is made worse by the absence of a traffic signal and minimal police presence on most days. These factors create extreme chaos and stress for motorists commuting to work or returning home, as they remain stuck in gridlock after gridlock.
Residents' Plight
For many residents like Arpit Badwaik, who lives in the Pebbles 2 Society along the Mumbai-Bengaluru Highway, passing via Omkar Garden Chowk is unavoidable. "I can skirt around the junction when I travel to Hinjewadi for work, but there is no alternative route on my way back. It sometimes takes 45 minutes to travel a mere 800 meters because of traffic at this underpass. While congestion persists throughout the day, it becomes particularly difficult during peak hours. Everyone is in a rush, so they keep trying to squeeze their vehicles into whatever space is available, without any thought of the jam it causes for others," the IT professional told TOI.
"Since multiple roads merge at this one underpass, it is important that citizens also be conscious of how they are driving. Such civic sense, coupled with infrastructure changes, could resolve the issue. At present, quite a few accidents keep occurring on this stretch. Some motorists drive on the wrong side to avoid waiting, while ready-mix concrete (RMC) trucks add to the chaos, even though their movement is banned during peak hours," Badwaik added.
He further noted, "Multiple authorities have jurisdiction here, so every time we try to complain to any of them about the situation, they simply pass the buck."
Infrastructure Woes
Other residents pointed out that Bavdhan is increasingly a sought-after suburb, and infrastructure issues should have been tackled long ago. According to them, the authorities must resolve such simple problems before citizens bear the brunt. While unregulated traffic is causing mishaps on this stretch, ambulances also face inordinate delays while driving to a hospital located just a few meters away from the underpass.
Narrating a recent incident, local resident Payal Thakare said, "My friend's wife and two-year-old daughter had a major accident at the underpass a couple of weeks ago. An RMC truck rammed their two-wheeler as it could not brake on time. My friend's wife, who was riding the two-wheeler, tried to save her daughter and tore her ligament. Their daughter hit her head on a stone on the road and got six stitches. She was in the ICU for three days." The teacher further said, "I have also had several near escapes at this same spot. RMC truck movement is high in the area because of the presence of several plants in the vicinity. This is not ideal in an already congested location."
Heavy Vehicle Menace
The issue with heavy vehicles is a long-standing one. On November 13, 2025, Bavdhan residents staged a protest against the presence of RMC plants in a largely residential area and demanded a ban on the movement of dumpers and trucks, besides closure of illegal RMC units. Following this, former gram panchayat member Deepak Dagade Patil and current corporator Kiran Dagade Patil called meetings with residents to understand the issues better and find solutions on February 2 and March 8 this year, respectively.
"Heavy vehicles are major contributors to congestion here," said resident Krrunal Ghare. The advocate added that the chowk being the only access road for many key routes poses a big problem. "To make matters worse, there are no traffic signals here. Add heavy vehicles like dumpers and RMC trucks to the mix, and snarls increase exponentially," he added.
Jurisdictional Confusion
While the underpass falls under the purview of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), it liaises with Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) for civic-level works at the location, such as encroachment removal. On the constabulary side, the spot falls under the jurisdiction of the Pimpri Chinchwad traffic police.
Till January this year, the Bavdhan Citizens Forum (BCF) was trying to coordinate with PMC and Pimpri Chinchwad traffic police to resolve issues at the spot. After corporators were elected, members said they took up more of a supportive role. According to them, a major way to tackle traffic congestion here is to control RMC truck movements, as they take up a lot of the carriageway width. Corporator Dagade Patil has assigned two wardens to help manage traffic, and the police have also been deploying personnel for regular patrolling. However, residents claim issues will persist without a lasting solution to the heavy vehicle conundrum.
Growing Suburb, Stagnant Infrastructure
Vinayak Futane, who has lived in the locality for eight years, said that after Bavdhan Budruk was merged into PMC limits in 2021, it has grown a lot, and so has its population — but infrastructure has not kept pace. "There are service roads on each side of the highway that allow for two-way traffic going towards the underpass. In addition, roads also join from Bavdhan Khurd and the Uttamnagar side. The carriageway width of the underpass is not enough to manage traffic coming from all these directions," the IT infrastructure specialist said.
"Any holdup on the highway pushes motorists to use service roads, and this congests the underpass. For those on foot, there is no pavement. Meanwhile, most autorickshaws and two-wheelers try to squeeze into any little space available. To compound matters, there are also some troublesome potholes around here, especially when it rains and they become invisible. There is a traffic jam here perennially, but it is very unpredictable and can take anywhere between 15 minutes to an hour to clear up," he added.
Demands and Official Responses
Demands made by citizens and commuters to resolve this problem include proper traffic management at Omkar Garden Chowk and the underpass during peak hours, removal of abandoned vehicles and encroachments from the spot, relocation of a bus stop to a place further up the road, and installation of speed breakers on all service roads leading to the junction to enhance safety.
Officials Speak
Vivek Patil, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic), Pimpri Chinchwad: "The underpass is extremely chaotic. I have visited the site. We have police personnel and wardens present there, but there are other issues that make managing the traffic difficult. The main issue is encroachments. At one point, the service road is abruptly halved, which further narrows the stretch. We have written about this to PMC multiple times, but nothing has happened. No action is taken either to fix the service road or to remove the encroachments."
Suhas Jadhav, Assistant Municipal Commissioner, Kothrud-Bavdhan Ward: "We have not received any complaint from the Pimpri Chinchwad police for road repairs or encroachments around Omkar Garden Chowk. The service road land acquisition and jurisdiction is with the NHAI, so there is nothing we can do at present. If the NHAI asks us to remove the encroachments, we can aid their operation along with our team."
Ankit Yadav, Deputy Manager, NHAI: "There are no encroachments near the underpass, but we will check. We are not allowed to build near utility lines for service roads, so if the police claim it is cutting abruptly, this must be the reason. We are looking at building an elevated corridor from Ravet to Narhe for traffic relief. A DPR is ready and with the ministry. For widening the underpass, the most important thing is to find a diversion route. We will look into it."
