Pune: The spotlight in the temple town of Alandi is once again on chronic traffic congestion and unregulated parking after the death of retired CRPF personnel Bhimaji Tukaram Chaure (59).Chaure, a resident of Padmavati Road in Alandi, died of a cardiac arrest on Sunday afternoon when his family was unable to take him to a nearby private hospital on time allegedly due to severe traffic congestion. They said the hospital was located barely 800 metres away from their residence, but it took them 40 minutes to reach because the roads were choked with vehicles parked haphazardly outside marriage halls.His son Yogesh Chaure, an IT professional, said the incident occurred around 1.30 pm when his father suddenly collapsed at home. “We put him in a car and rushed towards the hospital. We got stuck in a massive traffic congestion within a few metres on Padmavati Road. Vehicles were parked on both sides and there was no space to move,” he told TOI.“My mother and sister got down and pleaded with people to remove their vehicles, but nobody responded. We shifted my father to an autorickshaw hoping it would move faster through the traffic. However, 40 minutes had passed by the time we reached the hospital,” he said.The family said doctors declared Chaure dead on arrival. “The doctor said my father’s chances of survival were high had he been brought within half an hour. He died not just because of a cardiac arrest, but because of the town’s unregulated parking and traffic congestion that delayed emergency treatment,” Yogesh said.Residents and local activists said Alandi has been grappling with severe traffic and parking issues for years, particularly during the summer wedding season. The temple town is known for hosting mass marriages and wedding ceremonies, and has hundreds of marriage halls spread across narrow lanes and bylanes. Most of the venues lack dedicated parking spaces, said local residents.“Resultantly, guests park vehicles wherever they find space — on roadsides, junctions and even in front of residential buildings. The entire town is paralysed during peak wedding mahurat,” said local activist Vikas Kate. Over 400 marriages are conducted in the town every day during the peak season, he said.“Even if each wedding attracts around 500 guests, one can imagine the scale of vehicular movement. People often require over an hour to travel even one km,” he added.Residents said repeated complaints have been made to local authorities demanding stricter parking regulation, dedicated parking facilities near marriage halls and better traffic management during wedding seasons. However, no concrete measures have been implemented, so far.Chief officer of the Alandi Municipal Council Madhav Khandekar told TOI: “We have called a meeting next week with owners of all marriage halls. We will tell them to make parking arrangements for guests. If not, they shouldn’t hold any events.”Police inspector, Dighi and Alandi traffic division, Viswanath Chavan said they had already communicated the issue to the municipal council and urged them to make parking arrangements. “Roads are narrow and can’t accommodate the volume of increased vehicular movements. Devotees and wedding guests park their vehicles haphazardly. It results in massive traffic snarls through the day. On days of important mahurats of marriage, the congestion stays throughout the day. It has become a trend,” Chavan added.
