Chakan industrial area sees some traffic relief as factories begin staggered shifts

Pune: Commuters to Chakan industrial area reported some relief from traffic congestion this week after a Sept 1 move by the district collector rearranged shift timings at factories, causing a reduction in the number of company buses coming to the area at the same time.Collector Jitendra Dudi had asked production plants to implement a 30-minute gap between shifts, across five phases in Chakan. If factories in phase 1 start the first shift at 7am, those in phase 2 will start at 7.30am, and so forth. Similar changes have been suggested for offices in the area. The arrangement is being tested for 90 days; a final decision to continue with staggered shifts will be taken after studying the number of vehicles during peak hour traffic.The move, factory heads said, has eased some congestion, with minimal impact on production levels.“Production was impacted on first day of implementation, but shifts synchronised from the second day onwards,” said Dilip Batwal, CEO of Federation of Chakan Industries. “But the impact was within acceptable levels. Factory workers and office-goers in Chakan did feel relief,” he added.Not all units have managed to implement the changes though, police said.“There are limitations because of inter-dependency among manufacturing units,” said inspector Nilesh Waghmare from Nigdi police station. “Many small- and medium-sized units depend on bigger companies for orders so they have matched shifts with the larger units. For example, an MSME located in Chakan’s phase 1,2,3 or 4 now finds it difficult to take orders from a customer in phase 5. Their timings don’t match,” Waghmare said.But workers commuting to the area said the situation should improve. Jaydev Akkalkote, who runs an MSME in Chakan’s phase 3, said workers reported a reduction of 15-20 minutes in travel time to the industrial belt.“It may not be a sizeable impact. PMRDA roadworks are also underway on six roads here so that’s also adding to travel time. Once those works are complete, the staggered shifts may help traffic management,” Akkalkote said, adding that improvements in carriageways were more important to commuters.Pandurang Hulsure, a factory worker in phase 5, said his time spent on the bus to work has reduced by 30 minutes since Sept 1. “On some days, we would reach the factory an hour late because of the traffic jams. I’m now early to work, along with many others,” he said.