Traffic Reforms Planned in Aundh: Pune Police, along with PMC officials, are launching a traffic decongestion plan in Aundh, focusing on choke points near commercial hubs and encroached junctions.
Aundh as a Pilot Model: If the measures, like changing mall exits, clearing encroachments, and installing signals, succeed in Aundh, this model will be replicated across the city.
Commercial Establishments to Support: Malls, schools, and wedding halls may be asked to provide trained traffic wardens to help manage traffic in their vicinity.
Pune, 23 July 2025: To address growing traffic congestion in Pune's Aundh area, especially around major commercial spots like Westend and Reliance malls, the city police are launching a targeted initiative, tentatively dubbed the "Aundh Pattern." The effort, being undertaken with the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), aims to study key bottlenecks and implement corrective measures that could later be applied across the city.
Senior police officials and PMC representatives met with residents, school representatives, and business owners at Swargiya Gopinath Munde Sabhagruha to discuss the plan.
Additional Commissioner of Police Manoj Patil said that the initiative would include evaluating changes to mall entry and exit points, removing encroachments, and installing a traffic signal at Medipoint Hospital Chowk. These changes are expected to ease traffic on Mahadji Shinde Road, New DP Road, and Nagras Road.
Patil emphasized that large establishments like malls and wedding halls, which attract significant footfall and traffic, should play a role in managing congestion. He proposed that they provide trained traffic wardens to assist police officers in regulating vehicular flow. Police will offer training and issue official badges to such wardens. The same approach could be extended to schools where applicable.
Residents of Aundh expressed long-standing frustration over daily traffic snarls, especially on weekends, due to mall traffic, haphazard parking, and the absence of traffic signals at key junctions. A resident from Wireless Colony noted that congestion often blocks ambulances and emergency vehicles. Many also blamed illegal hawkers and meandering auto-rickshaws for narrowing the roads further.
Another resident pointed out that the road between Ambedkar Chowk and Medipoint Chowk is often blocked due to encroachments and lack of proper traffic control at several T-junctions. Except for Parihar Chowk, most junctions reportedly lack traffic signals, making navigation difficult during peak hours.
Local political activist Madhukar Musale, who organised the public meeting, stressed the need for long-term solutions, including the removal of illegal hawkers, road widening, and implementing structured parking plans such as no-parking zones and P1/P2 models. He said many roads shown as wide in the city’s development plan are far narrower in reality, causing additional complications.
Responding to safety concerns raised by women residents, Patil assured that better police presence would be ensured at sensitive spots like Ambedkar Chowk, especially after sunset. On the issue of school buses blocking roads, he clarified that while schools with large campuses should ideally park buses inside, student safety remains the priority, and not all campuses can accommodate internal parking.
Patil concluded by reiterating that any commercial entity benefiting from public infrastructure should take responsibility for reducing traffic disruption in its vicinity.
