Pune: Those planning to head to Sinhagad Fort may have to halt their plans as the State Forest Department has decided to keep the 9-km Ghat Road from Gholavadi to Sinhagad top closed for traffic for eight days.
This was announced after a landslide at a site around 2 km from the parking lot on the top of the fort.
Ranganath Naikade, Deputy Conservator of Forest (Territorial) said the Forest Department will submit its report to Pune District Collector Saurabh Rao on the state of the 9-km Ghat Road. He said the decision to open this road will be taken after a joint meeting with the district collector, Public Works Department (PWD) and Forest Department.
Naikade said that in last two years, the Forest Department has deposited Rs 1.61 crore with the PWD towards work to be carried out at Sinhagad, but no agency was appointed.
DN Deshpande of PWD (South) said a fresh tender has been floated to fit nets on a 200-metre stretch of the road starting from the parking lot. The funds deposited by the Forest Department are only enough to fit nets on 200 metres of the road, he added.
Suggested measures
- Ranganath Naikade, Deputy Conservator of Forest (Territorial) told Sakal Times, inspection of 9-km Ghat Road will be carried out within 8 days and urgent work will be suggested to avoid such incidents in future.
- It may be recalled that heavy rain triggered a landslide at Sinhagad Ghat, resulting in slow movement of vehicles on the road on Sunday afternoon.
- More than 1,000 tourists were stranded on Sinhagad top as the boulders were cleared with the help of a JCB excavator.
- Naikade suggested that the rock pattern of Sinhagad Ghat section is differs from that of Ghat section of Expressway. The majority portion consists of loose boulders and murum and stabilising such section with the use of net will not be possible.
