Pune : Roads, traffic conditions, route queries and other assorted rants.

[sajo]

Originally Posted by selfdrive

While passing the smallest flyover in town...

Well, the smallest and the most purposeless flyover in town. Wherein people emerge right onto the road in the middle of traffic if they take it.
Also seems to create confusion amongst out of town motorists, who assume that the flyover is for traffic going towards MIT and the other side of the same road for traffic going away from MIT.
The other day got a furious bout of flashing lights and glaring from an SX4 coming in from the wrong side.

[RemingtonSteele]

I agree as far as H'wadi traffic is concerned we all are Dhristhrashtra here

Originally Posted by Swanand Inamdar

Wow, it rained?
Ojas, any update on traffic around Mezza9?

Originally Posted by Swanand Inamdar

The suspicions have been confirmed! I do work in an office with no windows (to see the outside world)!

Originally Posted by sajo

Right now have an amazing view of the cloud covered mountains in the distant horizon.

I called Swanand a Dhristhrashtra in the context to above 3 quotes (no offence Ojas, Swanand).

[Swanand Inamdar]

Originally Posted by RemingtonSteele

@Ojas the way you are describing the view makes me think you are like "Sanjay" of Mahabharata and Swanand like "Dhristhrashtra"

. Epic. That has been the most hilarious statement ive read. Made my day! I supose I am a blind man, so to say when in office, one is completely out of touch from the outside environment.

On the topic, the potholes on the bypass seem to be have been taken care of. Specially the one opp Praj. Though the work is makeshift, the important part is, its been done. For now.
Today, saw a major jam at CC, where the road from Kothrud merges on the highway. Reason - a dumper truck broken down in the right most lane.

[quickdraw]

I cannot believe I did not see this thread before, the Hinjavadi thread didn't have anything relevant for me to post in. Since my commute does not involve that area. I have a few things to add here from my 8 years experience of riding/driving every kind of vehicle on Pune roads.

Firstly let me startle you with this very interesting factoid, since many of you gentlemen are cagers here.

I've been riding bikes for a very long time, and can estimate I have had about 10 or so odd accidents in Pune. At neither time was I doing any stunts or being a smart-*** on the bike. But every single time (yes 100%) of the accidents were caused by people crossing the roads. I had to avoid hitting them with my bike and instead cause harm to myself and my machine. They just cross the road without looking! I cannot believe it that they have such blatant disregard for their life. They have absolutely no concern whatsoever about traffic, they just walk across the road, and when you have to screech brake to avoid them they give you dirty looks. Sometimes I just thank God that I don't own a gun.

People traffic sense (especially people on bikes/scooterettes) is the worst I have seen anywhere in Pune. They will hog up lanes, they will defy every traffic rule and put themselves and your lives in danger, to save a few seconds at a signal. Worse still I remember there were shiv sena people standing near Mocha circle on Law College Road when the helmet rule came out, and they were stopping everyone and forcing people to take off their helmets.

Traffic is in absolutely horrid condition now-a-days, when it takes me 30 minutes to travel from my office in Baner to my home (in Aundh) because the signal is absolutely choked at Aundh turning on Baner road. Its the same for university flyover which is in absolute shambles, its been designed horribly and traffic coming towards it from all directions is choked everyday.

More rants later.

[noopster]

Quick query: what's the best place to park for an hour or so near passport office (Senapati Bapat Road)? I have an appointment on Friday at 10 am, which means I will probably reach around 9.30 and hopefully be done by 11-ish.

[Swanand Inamdar]

Originally Posted by noopster

Quick query: what's the best place to park for an hour or so near passport office (Senapati Bapat Road)? I have an appointment on Friday at 10 am, which means I will probably reach around 9.30 and hopefully be done by 11-ish.

In the premises. Its pay and park service. Rs.10 for an hour. But then, you at least know that the car is safe. The entire stretch of SB road is a no parking zone. So is the case with the lane that leads to the RPO.

[RemingtonSteele]

Originally Posted by noopster

Quick query: what's the best place to park for an hour or so near passport office (Senapati Bapat Road)? I have an appointment on Friday at 10 am, which means I will probably reach around 9.30 and hopefully be done by 11-ish.

As per my experience (June11) even though the appointment is 10 AM, still reach there before 8 AM or otherwise face long queue of other 10AM appointment folks. Expect your job to finish by 12-1 PM
I also saw that the people entering at 12:30-1:00 PM were directly on the freeway without much waiting queues (actually I repented why at all I went early??).

Please sought out opinions from anyother experiences though before you decide when to landup there.

The pay n park is available; worst case you can find the roadside parking in the neighbouring bylane leading to patrakaarnagar.

[selfdrive]

Originally Posted by noopster

Quick query: what's the best place to park for an hour or so near passport office (Senapati Bapat Road)? I have an appointment on Friday at 10 am, which means I will probably reach around 9.30 and hopefully be done by 11-ish.

Originally Posted by Swanand Inamdar

In the premises. Its pay and park service. Rs.10 for an hour. But then, you at least know that the car is safe. The entire stretch of SB road is a no parking zone. So is the case with the lane that leads to the RPO.

The parking lot at the passport office is your best bet, but it is a royal mess at the best of times. Do ensure that you park in a manner that no one else can park around you or you will be left waiting for that someone to turn up and move their vehicle. If this parking lot is full, I recommend parking in a lane on the other side of SB road. In short, do keep a plan B ready. I am not sure if you can park in Symbi if you are not a student/ professor, but that could be another option

Disclaimer: I have parked in that lane there quite some time back and I had a friend living there (just in case some one asked why I parked there!)

Edit: I agree with remingtonsteele here: the queues for appointments are usually up and running much before time. Also ensure you are in the correct 'timing wala' queue. When I went there last, there were 3 separate existing queues at around 815 am.

[amitwlele]

Originally Posted by noopster

Quick query: what's the best place to park for an hour or so near passport office (Senapati Bapat Road)? I have an appointment on Friday at 10 am, which means I will probably reach around 9.30 and hopefully be done by 11-ish.

Originally Posted by RemingtonSteele

As per my experience (June11) even though the appointment is 10 AM, still reach there before 8 AM or otherwise face long queue of other 10AM appointment folks. Expect your job to finish by 12-1 PM
I also saw that the people entering at 12:30-1:00 PM were directly on the freeway without much waiting queues (actually I repented why at all I went early??).

Please sought out opinions from anyother experiences though before you decide when to landup there.

The pay n park is available; worst case you can find the roadside parking in the neighbouring bylane leading to patrakaarnagar.

Agree with Remington. The appointment is useless. I went as per the appointment time and i was i think 50th person in the queue.

So if you go early parking inside the premises should be available.

[dot]

Originally Posted by noopster

Quick query: what's the best place to park for an hour or so near passport office (Senapati Bapat Road)? I have an appointment on Friday at 10 am, which means I will probably reach around 9.30 and hopefully be done by 11-ish.

The place is not too far from your place. You can take an auto.

Just kidding. As amit and abhi said, the biggest joke is the appointment time. Just try to go as early as possible, you will get parking inside the premises and get ahead in the line. Unlike the professional Bangalore RPO, this Pune RPO is a joke of an office. And it is not funny when you have to stand in line for a two to three hours and get ragged by some jokers.

Let me tell my wife's experience of passport renewal. After a couple of trips to the RPO, they reluctantly decided to accept her application. Within a few days, police called. Police again needed another set of oddball documents (and bribe) which were not mentioned in the RPO website. She refused to submit some docs as she were pretty tired of the whole thing by then. Then one day we got email, IIRC, that passport is ready and dispatched to the post office. Going to postoffice was futile as they had no clue. We searched the entire stack inside the Yerawada Jail P.O. but could not find her passport. Wrote a complaint in the website. Then one day she found from the website tracking form that the passport is in RPO. We went back to RPO where the passport was given to her. Finally.

After all these tamasha, and passport in hand, one day we get a call from police that the verification needs to be done. What a joke. We gave a middle finger to that summon. Finally after a few monthes, we got a letter that said the passport was dispatched to the Jail P.O and as we didnt show up it has gone back to the RPO. This was sent to us as we had set up the complaint in the passport website.
Enjoy madi.

[RemingtonSteele]

Originally Posted by dot

Police again needed another set of oddball documents (and bribe) which were not mentioned in the RPO website.

Then one day we got email, IIRC, that passport is ready and dispatched to the post office. Going to postoffice was futile as they had no clue. We searched the entire stack inside the Yerawada Jail P.O. but could not find her passport.

Then one day she found from the website tracking form that the passport is in RPO. We went back to RPO where the passport was given to her.

After all these tamasha, and passport in hand, one day we get a call from police that the verification needs to be done. What a joke. We gave a middle finger to that summon.

Finally after a few monthes, we got a letter that said the passport was dispatched to the Jail P.O and as we didnt show up it has gone back to the RPO. This was sent to us as we had set up the complaint in the passport website.

This is hilarious adventure experience.
BTW when was this ? Apart from standing in queue my experience was pretty cool. One fine day just got the speedpost delivery very well neatly packed in an waterproof envelope and only in person to be delivered with identification after 40-42 days.

[Swanand Inamdar]

We've been saying for a long time now, that the bypass road is accident prone. Especially near Praj industries, where the traffic from Bavdhan merges into the bypass.

Well, those words came true today morning. Result- a dent on the rear bumper of my Laura.

An Innova coming from Praj side just came and stopped in the middle of the road. Perpendicular to oncoming traffic. There was a Palio in the right lane parellel to me in the left lane. Seeing that Innova, the Palio guy, without any thoughts or indicators swerves to the left. I brake hard to avoid a collision. Result, a biker rear ends me. All were safe, which is a good thing, but the damage has been done. My car has suffered its first accident .

I urge all those using the bypass, please be careful while on those turns. Its a risky business. Please drive safe.

Here's the pic of that dent.

[sajo]

Originally Posted by Swanand Inamdar

We've been saying for a long time now, that the bypass road is accident prone. Especially near Praj industries, where the traffic from Bavdhan merges into the bypass.

Well, those words came true today morning. Result- a dent on the rear bumper of my Laura.

Ouch...Thats bad man. People standing perpendicular or taking an extra wide turn is unfortunately very common at that point.
Even though there is a traffic warden posted there, many people dont listen to him (even if its for their own good) and just zoom off. This is especially true of yellow plates and bikers.

[RemingtonSteele]

^^ Felt really sorry looking at the pic.

Yes, that turn is a heck of a crazy turn with pothholes making the life more miserable, plus everyone driving think themselves of direct descendants of Mika Hakkinen & Valentino Rossi -they have to just get ahead no matter what. Take care man and Drive Safe!

Lets look at the better picture (Only just to console you), the dent doesn't look as bad to the situation what you described.
A hot blower treatment should pop out the bumper and rubbing compound should remove the rest (if not entirely but majorly). The rest can be touched up with authentic paint at A.S.S. otherwise Nail Polish is still there to do the trick

[Swanand Inamdar]

@Ojas: Needless to say that the Innova was yellow plated. These guys get my goat everytime I see them on the roads.

@Remi: I know what you mean bro. Luckily, the damage isnt that much, but the impact was horrible.
And yes, that is exactly what I thought when I saw the bumper. Instead of an entire replacement, which honestly isnt necessary, I plan to get the same procedure to remove the dent. The rest can be done later on.
Any idea where I could get the hot blower treatment done? Would the A$$ be the best place to do it, or would a local guy take care of it?