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TOI : PUNE: Taking serious cognizance of the death of 10-year-old Atharva Dongre in a road mishap on Tuesday, state assembly speaker Babasaheb Kupekar has asked the state government to make a statement on Pune’s deteriorating traffic situation.

City MLAs Chandrakant Chhajed, Girish Bapat and Balasaheb Shivarkar raised the issue of Atharva’s death in the assembly on Tuesday.

They demanded that the state government should take serious cognizance of the tragic death, and make statement on why accidents are on the rise in the city.

MLAs across party lines supported the demand and Kupekar ordered the state government to make a statement before the House within the next two-three days.

“Things are not moving ahead to improve the traffic situation. The traffic committee was established six months ago, but only one meeting was organised that, too, only after I threatened to agitate. The demand to increase the number of traffic policemen was submitted to the home department, but it is still pending,” Chhajed said.

Shivarkar said he has demanded completion of Development Plan roads and widening of existing roads. “There’s need to shift the Swargate bus stand out of the city.There are several bottlenecks and, despite frequent deaths due to traffic congestion, no solution is in sight,” Shivarkar said.

Atharva was crushed to death under the rear wheels of a speeding Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited bus near Shaniwarwada at 6.45 am. An angry mob of about 60 people gathered at the spot and pelted stones at 62 PMPML buses.
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TOI : PUNE: It was a business visit of majestic proportions. On Wednesday, His Royal Highness Prince Andrew, Duke of York, dropped in on some Pune-based companies and spoke with prominent businesswomen in the city.

The brief visit was part of his ongoing India tour as UK’s special representative for international trade and investment, a spokesperson from the British high commission, told TOI.

“Prince Andrew arrived from Mumbai this morning and visited Ventura, Bharat Forge and Tata Motors. He also spoke with industrialists Anu Aga and Lila Poonawalla,” the spokesperson said.

“He is in India on an official business trip to support companies trading internationally and to encourage foreign investment,” the spokesperson said, adding that Prince Andrew had met Union minister of state for industry Ashwini Kumar in New Delhi on Monday.

Prince Andrew visited the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) office in Mumbai on Tuesday and also addressed Mumbai’s financial community.

“He arrived in Pune this morning and left for Bangalore in the afternoon,” the spokesperson said, refusing to provide details of how and where the prince will travel, citing security reasons.

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TOI : PUNE: Rivalry between two mandals over organising a programme culminated in the murder of Pravin Raghunath Sarawade (26) of Shantinagar on Tuesday.

The Vishrantwadi police booked Shrikant Shinde, Milind Shinde, Vikas More, Haridas Satpute, Vishal Teltumbade, Dinesh Bhosale and Wasim Sayyad who are absconding, on a complaint filed by Tejas Rahul Kambale (21).

According to the police, Sarawade was a member of Eleven Star Mitra Mandal. He was attacked on Tuesday night by the accused, who are members of the Ekta Mitra Mandal. They also attacked Tejas who was seriously injured.

Later, in retaliation, members of the Eleven Star Mitra Mandal vandalised the houses of the accused.
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TOI : PUNE: Following the death of Atharva Dongare after a Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) bus ran over him near the congested Shaniwarwada area on Tuesday, the demand for shifting statues from main city chowks is gaining momentum.

Some of the main statues said to be obstructing the traffic include the Kakasaheb Gadgil statue opposite Shaniwarwada, the Keshavrao Jedhe statue at Swargate junction and the Vasantdada Patil statue at Abhinav College junction.

“Despite the general body’s approval for the removal of statues from main city chowks, there is no action on the ground,” said opposition leader Vikas Mathkari in a press release. He added that along with rash driving, failure in traffic planning is also resulting in frequent accidents.

“Death of 470 people in road accidents is shocking. Accident spots should be identified and immediate actions should be taken,” demanded Mathkari. He added that road dividers should be in place and proposed subways should be completed immediately.

Former Congress corporator Satish Desai in a press statement said that flex boards and statues at main chowks are resulting in traffic chaos and accidents. “Last year the matter of shifting the statues to one place was discussed at the general body of the PMC,” said Desai. He said these statues are open invitations to accidents.

City-based Rajshree Parmar Memorial Foundation had repeatedly urged the state government to formulate a policy and initiate stringent measures to check the mushrooming of statues and fountains at busy junctions in all major cities and towns of Maharashtra. But the situation on the ground remains unchanged and the traffic chaos continues.

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