All Highways and Entry Points to Pune Choked with Traffic After Diwali Festivities

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As Diwali celebrations wrapped up alongside the weekend, Pune experienced severe traffic congestion on Sunday across major highways connecting the city. Key routes including the Pune–Mumbai Expressway, Old Mumbai–Pune Highway, Pune–Bengaluru Highway, and roads linking Pune to Ahilyanagar, Nashik, and Solapur saw heavy traffic volumes, leading to significant snarls. The increased flow spilled over onto arterial roads feeding these highways, compounding the gridlock, officials reported.

Highway Traffic Police officials noted that heavy traffic started early Sunday morning as people both returned to and departed from Pune following the festive break and weekend. Congestion intensified throughout the day, causing long vehicle queues at toll plazas and major city entry and exit points. Despite deploying additional personnel to manage traffic, commuters faced delays stretching to several hours on some stretches.A Highway Traffic Police officer explained,

“From early morning, traffic volume was higher than usual on the Pune-Mumbai corridor. By early afternoon, traffic increased on the Mumbai-Pune direction as well. While most stretches saw moving traffic, ghat sections and toll plazas experienced congestion. Lonavala and Khandala reported heavy tourist traffic leading to snarls. The old Mumbai-Pune highway also faced similar jams. Full deployment of highway and local police helped manage the situation.”Naynish Ashtekar, a Pune-based professional who regularly commutes between Pune and Mumbai, shared,

“We returned to Pune from Mumbai on Sunday morning and expected heavy traffic. The Bor Ghat section was particularly congested, and we faced snarls entering Pune city.”Regarding the Pune-Satara stretch of the Pune-Bengaluru highway, another officer added,

“Heavy traffic was reported on both Pune-Satara corridors. The Khambatki Ghat section and the S-shaped curve after it often face jams during peak hours. Toll plazas at Anewadi and Khed Shivapur were congested throughout the day. Entry points at Katraj, Narhe, Navale Bridge, and Warje experienced heavy volumes. Evening rains worsened the situation, causing slower vehicle movement.”Similar traffic snarls were reported on the Pune-Ahilyanagar Highway (Wagholi and Shirur), Pune-Nashik Highway (Chakan and Alephata), and Pune-Solapur Highway (Uruli Kanchan). Entry points on all these highways saw congestion, especially in the evening after brief rainfall.A Pune City Traffic Police officer said,