The ongoing work of the Station Area Traffic Improvement Scheme (SATIS) has led to major traffic snarls with very less space left for vehicles to move and connect to the Kalyan railway station.
With mounting complaints from commuters, the concerned authorities of Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC), Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Transport (KDMT) and Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) convened a meeting to discuss the problems and come up with solution.
One major reason highlighted by the authorities for the congestion is the existence of the MSRTC bus depot on the Station Road where all types of civic and State buses halt.
“There is a need to stop halting the civic buses at the depot. If this is done, the buses won’t take the Station Road and instead only ply on the other parts of the city. We have asked the MSRTC officials to ensure that this is implemented in the coming days so that congestion can be controlled,” said an officer of KDMC.
Another measure that will be undertaken is to shift the stand of mini buses near Mahalakshmi Hotel on Station Road. Further, the civic body will also take up a drive against the hawkers.
Vijay Gaikwad, ST depot manager, said, “As of now, there is no decision on bus diversion. The traffic police will pass a notification, only then we can implement it. There is a lot of congestion due to the civic buses and State buses taking the Station Road and departing from the depot.”
Deepak Sawant, general manager, KDMT said, “We will identify some places for the halt of civic buses to avoid the bus depot. We will ask the traffic police to issue a notification on the same. Also, we are planning to have a dedicated one way for auto rickshaw and buses so that the congestion is less in the coming days.”
