Pune: A traffic snarl spanning about four kilometers was observed on the Dehu Road to Katraj bypass highway on Monday (August 19), causing severe delays from Chandni Chowk to the Mutha River bridge. The congestion, which began around 4 p.m., continued until 11 p.m., as thousands of vehicles moved at a crawl.

The end of a long weekend saw a heavy influx of vehicles returning from Mumbai to Pune, Satara, Sangli, and Kolhapur. In addition, people who had ventured out for Raksha Bandhan were also making their way back home, adding to the traffic volume.

The reopening of schools, colleges, and offices from Tuesday (August 20) further compounded the situation, which was exacerbated by rain in the area. The narrow bridge over the Mutha River was a significant bottleneck, contributing to the prolonged traffic jams.

As the highway traffic slowed to a halt, many vehicles diverted onto service roads, but these too became clogged.

Traffic jams were reported at several junctions along the route, including the signal near Karvenagar Kakade City, Ambedkar Chowk, the Warje Highway flyover junction, Suvarna Hotel Junction, Church Junction, Shinde Pool Junction in Shivane, Navbharat Pool Junction, and the stretch from Ahira Gate to Uttam Nagar bus stop.

Assistant Police Inspector Sandeep Khandagle of the Warje Traffic Division noted that the large number of citizens on the roads due to the holiday and Raksha Bandhan contributed to the gridlock.

The narrow bridge over the Mutha River remains a critical point of congestion. Traffic officers and personnel were stationed across the highway, Shivane, and Ambedkar Chowk to manage and alleviate the situation.