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NonePune: Lakhs of vehicles flooded the Mumbai-Pune Expressway on Saturday, sparking massive gridlock during the extended New Year weekend. The congestion was particularly severe on the Pune carriageway, with bumper-to-bumper traffic stretching for several kilometres, with some travellers claiming of taking up to 7 hours to reach Pune from Mumbai, as against a normal of three hours. The surge in traffic comes as many officegoers opted to take Monday and Tuesday (Dec 30-31) off, creating a five-day weekend till Jan 1. "We are experiencing heavy congestion on the Pune carriageway, with queues of vehicles extending up to 6-7km. Though we diverted vehicles from the Pune lane to the Mumbai carriageway, the situation remained challenging throughout Saturday afternoon. Lakhs of vehicles took the route on Saturday, both heavy and light. They were either stuck or moving at a snail's pace," an officer with the highway police said. The officer said tourist destinations like Khandala and Lonavla were seeing exceptionally high footfall, contributing significantly to the expressway congestion. "We anticipate similar trend on Sunday," he said. The impact of the traffic was felt by frequent travellers and transport operators alike. Akshay Nagane, owner of Wheelocity Taxi service, said one of his clients endured a gruelling seven-hour journey from Mumbai to Pune on Friday. "It was quite a harrowing experience for them," Nagane said. The congestion affected both directions of travel. Prakash Pawar, owner of Veer Travels, said, "Even around 10am, our clients took four-and-a-half hours to reach Mumbai from Pune as against 3 hours." Siddhu Holi, who travelled from Mumbai to Mahabaleshwar via NH48, said he was stuck for 1 hour on the highway. "When I reached near Khandala where NH48 meets the expressway, I was caught in another jam near Amrutanjan bridge, which took one-and-a-half hours to clear. The entire Khandala ghat section was packed with vehicles. I completed the trip from Mahabaleshwar to Pune in four-and-a-half hours, instead a normal of 3 hours," he said. Cab driver Vishal Shinde, who was returning to Pune from Mumbai on Saturday, said, "I encountered severe congestion from the start of the ghat section till Amrutanjan bridge. The traffic stretched nearly 5km, with vehicles moving bumper-to-bumper at a snail's pace." A regular commuter said, "I needed to reach Pune early to meet my elderly father, and son. I've been stuck on the expressway for long now, with no sign of ease in traffic so far." Amitabh Roy, another Mumbai-Pune traveller, said, "The congestion stretched 50km before Lonavla and continued 20km after it. The tourist influx owing to the long weekend had the entire stretch packed with vehicles. We faced 20-30 minute delays every 1-2km. What's typically a three-hour journey took us five-and-a-half hours. While I was travelling for leisure, I wonder how people with business commitments or urgent appointments endured the traffic situation." Krushna Pandhare, another cab driver on the route, said, "There was an extensive queue through the ghat section that extended all the way to Lonavla. Having started from Mumbai, we expected to reach Pune an hour or more behind schedule." Social media users also expressed their frustration over the traffic situation. Vijaya Choudhary took to X and posted about the heavy vehicles moving in all the three lanes on Mumbai-Pune expressway. "What the hell is police doing?" he posted, while tagging Union minister Nitin Gadkari and CMO. RTI activist Sanjay Shirodkar highlighted the worsening traffic situation even on other key routes on Saturday. "I travelled 395km from Khanapur-Belgaum (Karnataka) to Kolhapur, Karad, Satara, and Pune. It took me 10 hours, with a couple of breaks. The main issue is the poor execution of the six-lane upgrade project between Belgaum-Kolhapur and the Kagal-Satara stretch. Earlier, this journey on the four-lane highway would take a maximum of six hours, but now it takes no less than 10 hours." The traffic woes extended beyond the expressway, with devotees heading to Bhimashankar temple facing similar challenges. "The severe traffic congestion near the temples had made it impossible for devotees to reach the temple. Several of our customers had to abandon their pilgrimage midway and return," said another travel agent.CaliberCos stock hits 52-week low at $0.45 amid market challenges

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