NASHIK: Steady showers continued in Nashik city and a few hours of very heavy rainfall on Saturday afternoon was enough to throw life out of gear on a busy festive weekend. Traffic police and motorists had a tough time moving vehicles through the clogged city chowks.
The heavy rainfall hampered smooth movement of vehicles on many city roads due to low visibility and potholes. Traffic jams were seen at four major areas — Dwarka chowk, Mumbai Naka, Amrutdham, Swami Narayan temple.
Ramesh Misal, a city resident, said it took him over 20 minutes to cross the Dwarka chowk area. “The rain in Nashik road area was very intense and the visibility was had he added.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) reported that Nashik city received 28.4 mm of rainfall between 8.30 am and 5.30 pm. However, maximum rainfall occured within the short span of 12.30 pm to 3 pm. The IMD had made a forecast of more rainfall in the district in the next 48 hours.
Inspector Subash Pawar of the city traffic branch said that disrupted movement of vehicles at the four major chowks stretching from Tapovan junction to Mumbai Naka — a distance of over 4 kms — for almost three hours.
“Several internal roads connected to these chowks too were packed with vehicles and we had to divert traffic to ease the congestion on the roads,” added Pawar.
Traffic police officials said that due to the downpour, portions of road along the Tapovan junction-Mumbai Naka stretch had become slushy and had to be closed for two-wheelers. There was a risk of the vehicles skidding.
“The two wheelers were diverted via the service roads. Since the flow of vehicles was quite high, the traffic movement on the main road and the service roads was slow. Our policemen had a tough time clearing the jams,” the police said.
The Nashik Municipal Corporation’s fire brigade said that one case of tree falling took place in Savarkar Nagar in Gangapur Road area of the city although there were no casualties.
Somesh Ahire, a city resident, said that it took him over an hour to travel from Nashik Road to the College Road area, which usually takes about 30 minutes.
“The condition of the roads is very bad, with innumerable potholes everywhere. I had a tough time negotiating. At Mumbai Naka chowk, I remained stranded for over 15 minutes due to the huge traffic jam and vehicles virtually crawled in that busy chowk,” he recalled.
In rural Nashik, movement of vehicles in the Kasara ghat section on the Mumbai-Agra NH was slow due to the rain and poor condition of the road. “Vehicuklar movement has reduced but there was no traffic jam in the ghat,” the highway police.
