Residents demand diversion of Nagpur-Ratnagiri highway traffic to ease congestion in Kolhapur’s Budhwar Peth

Kolhapur: Residents of the Budhwar Peth area in Kolhapur city have demanded that the Nagpur-Ratnagiri highway traffic, which currently passes through a narrow road in the city, be diverted via a different road due to frequent accidents and traffic congestion that cause extreme inconvenience. Vehicles carrying sugar cane also pass through the stretch, compounding the problems.The residents warned they would launch a protest against dangerous traffic soon. A meeting was held at the Juna Budhwar Talim Hall on Monday evening. Residents said if an already proposed ring road between Shivaji Bridge and Khanvilkar Chowk is constructed, it would reduce traffic movement in the city at large.Former mayor advocate Mahadevrao Adgule said, "In the past two months, there have been two serious accidents on the main road in Juna Budhwar Peth. Four days ago, a tractor trolley transporting sugar cane overturned in the early hours of the morning, causing a pipeline valve to burst. A flyover is proposed from the Tawde Hotel entrance to Shivaji Bridge. The flyover should be made immediately, and the dangerous traffic movement through the city should be diverted via ring roads."At the meeting, a decision was taken to submit a written statement to the people's representative and the district collector. Juna Budhwar Peth talim president Ranjit Shinde said, "There is a narrow road from CPR Chowk to Chhatrapati Shivaji Bridge on the Nagpur-Ratnagiri highway passing through the city. Dangerous transportation of sugar cane, and movement of dumpers and heavy vehicles are common on this route. School and college students also use this route. As a result, there are traffic jams here throughout the day. Residents are facing immense hardship."Former corporator Dhananjay Sawant expressed the hope that the new corporators would raise the issue in the municipal corporation. A large number of residents of the area, including Dilip Thanekar, Ibrahim Mulla, Sunil Shinde, Dheeraj Mule, Vijay Patil, Kisan Patil, Dheeraj Rokde, Sanjay Warekar, and Anil Patil, were present at the meeting.