Roads of Pune

Pune is located in the West of India, in the state of Maharashtra and is roughly 160 km east of Mumbai. The city lies approximately 3 miles along a river. The heart of the city is much older than the rest of the city. It has winding roads, many of which follow the natural slopes of the mountainous terrain and end at the rivers feeding the city. As the city expanded unevenly, a large number of roads were built around the central portion of the city, including the major highways which link the city to other parts of the country.

Some of the highways linking the city are maintained by the State of Maharashtra and are the State Highways. Pune is also connected by two National Highways, NH50 and NH4.

Mumbai-Pune Road

The highway connecting Pune to the nearest major city is the Mumbai-Pune Road. This has been rebuilt several times in several forms. It is the part of National Highway Number 4 or NH4. In its current form, it starts from the 153-year old Pune College of Engineering, popularly known as COEP, in the area of Shivaji Nagar near the Sancheti Hospital.

This highway passes through the boundaries of two Municipal Corporations (namely Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad), two Cantonments (namely Khadki & Dehu Road), and then starts the main Mumbai-Pune open Highway stretch after the Katraj-Dehu Road intersection at Dehu Road. The industrial areas in the newly-incorporated township of Pimpri-Chinchwad also lie alongside this road and you can see various large industrial units located along the way. Prominent institutions on this road include the CME or College of Military Engineering at Dapodi, the Khadki and Dehu Road Ammunition Factories and Hindustan Antibiotics (HA) at Pimpri. Major Industrial units are situated in the industrial estates owned by the MIDC (Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation). Prominent names among these include Telco, Philips, Garware, Bajaj, Kinetic and Elpro.

The Army's AOC (Army Ordnance Corps) and the Army Supply Corp (ASC)’s 512 Base Repair Depot is located in the cantonment town of Dehu Road on this road. The CRPF Regional Center (Central Reserve Police Force) and the NARI or National AIDS Research Institute is located at Talegaon. Talegaon is also the site for the upcoming General Motors car manufacturing facility.

This road, measured from Pune up to Mumbai, is nearly 156 km in length. The road runs almost parallel to the Mumbai Pune Railway line until Lonavala. This is the longest road in Pune and covers many outlying suburbs from Shivajinagar to Khadki, and continues through the townships of Nigdi, Talegaon, Dehu Road, and the tourist attractions, the twin hill stations of Lonavala and Khandala. Afterwards it enters the steep mountainous section of the Bhor Ghat to go to Mumbai.

Pune-Nashik Road

The Pune-Nashik National Highway (NH-50) starts at a very busy intersection near Pimpri called the Nashik Phata, and is just off the Pune-Mumbai National Highway (NH-4). This road is very famous for the thick green cover of trees planted evenly along both sides of the road by the PCMC. It lies like a canopy over the road while it passes through the PCMC city limits. The proposed Pune International Airport is scheduled to be constructed around the area between Chakan and Rajgurunagar on this road, which is an area 40 km away from Pune city.

Karve Road

This road [http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Karve+Road,+Pune,+India&sll=18.500631,73.825185&sspn=0.009767,0.019956&ie=UTF8&z=15&iwloc=addr&om=1] is named after the legendary social reformer, the Late Bharat Ratna Maharshi Dhondo Keshav Karve. The road connects all the places on one side of the Mutha River and runs parallel to it. It is one of the longest & busiest roads within the city, and the most polluted too. It connects the Deccan area near the Garware Flyover - Lakdi Bridge junction to the densely populated Kothrud and Karve Nagar areas up to Warje. A few of Pune's prestigious colleges and schools, such as the Abasaheb Garware College, Abhinav Vidyalaya, and Dr. Kalmadi Shamrao High School, lie just off this road. Nal Stop is one of its main junctions.

G. A. Kulkarni Road

This road [http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=G+A+Kulkarni+Path,+Pune,+India&sll=18.501607,73.822557&sspn=0.004558,0.007231&ie=UTF8&ll=18.502828,73.821816&spn=0.009116,0.014462&z=16&om=1] is named after one of the greatest Marathi short story writer G. A. Kulkarni. This is one of major roads in the Kothrud suburb of Pune. The importance if this road has increased due to many new developments alongside it. Residential apartment schemes (such as Karishma, Swapna-Shilpa), multiplex movie theatre (City Pride), industrial estate (Kothrud Industrial Estate, Sangam Press, Joshi Railway Museum, etc.), commercial buildings and complexes, shops and local markets are the major landmarks. This road connects to Karve Road at one end and reaches to parts of Karve Nagar.

Bhandarkar Road

The Bhandarkar Oriental Institute of Pune was founded on July 6, 1917 in remembrance of Ramakrishna Gopal Bhandarkar, who may be justifiably regarded as the foremost pioneer of scientific orientology in this country.

This road [http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Bhandarkar+Road,+Pune,+India&sll=18.510698,73.835351&sspn=0.019534,0.039911&ie=UTF8&ll=18.518008,73.835785&spn=0.009766,0.019956&z=16&iwloc=addr&om=1] starts from one end of Law College Road right opposite to the entrance of the Bhandarkar Institute and ends at the Lucky Restaurant intersection at Deccan Gymkhana. One of the upmarket residential areas in Pune, Bhandarkar Road connects Law College Road to Fergusson College Road.

Though you will find mostly residential complexes in this area, there are a few commercial outlets as well, the most notable of these being the "Spencer's Daily" and "Tru-Mart" outlets. This road extends for a kilometer with the Good Luck cafe at its eastern end, which is a popular place for the locals to socialize in the evenings. Rangoli is another popular restaurant for vegetarian food and is located at the junction of this road and the Law College road. There is also a school for the hearing impaired off this road. The prestigious Deccan Gymkhana Club and PYC Gymkhana Club are located off this road. There is one of the oldest milk dairies in the city, Sane Dairy, located off this road. Bhandarkar Road was home to the noted Marathi writer, orator, performing artist and comedian, the late Pu La Deshpande.

FC Road

The road gets its name from Fergusson College, an educational institute established in 1885. Till 50 years ago, Fergusson College road was the start of the Mumbai-Pune Road (Bombay-Poona Road). It used to start at Deccan Gymkhana and curve its way right up to the Old Governor's house into Aundh. Presently, the road starts at the Agriculture College - Police Parade Ground junction and ends at Deccan Gymkhana.

Youngsters throng the road during the day and evening for the latest in fashion and trends. The traffic is chaotic and undisciplined on weekends and on peak hours everyday. Another institute on the road is the Department of Communication and Foreign Languages - Ranade Institute, offering courses in journalism, e-learning and foreign languages. It offers courses to learn foreign languages including German, French, Japanese, Russian and Spanish. The institute canteen, with its unusual old world look complete with wooden desks and benches is popular with ex-students and current students alike.

In addition, FC Road is also the venue of the British Council Library. Times of India, Pune office stands parallel to the library. Savera, Vaishali and Rupali are the three popular restaurants on the road.

The other end of FC Road

Veteran Actor Dev Anand used to visit Lucky Restaurant while he was a struggling artist in this city during 1950s. Lucky restaurant was demolished in 2006. Another popular restaurant, Good Luck Cafe, has been serving its brand of tea and bun maska since 1935. Another famous twin restaurants are Roopali and Vaishali, both serve Udupi-style vegetarian food. During daytime, Vaishali continues to be a hangout place for Fergusson College students for 30+ years. In the evening, it becomes more of a family restaurant. Vaishali is possibly the most popular place on FC Road (apart from Fergusson College itself).

Popular Book House, International Book Service, Super Shoppe and Sagar Arcade are some of the prime commercial establishments. Hongkong Lane is another attraction, a narrow lane with small shops on either side.

In addition, the temples of the 'Padukas', that is, the wooden sandals of the saints, Sant Dnayeshwar Maharaj at Dnayeshwar Paduka Chowk and Sant Tukaram Maharaj at the Tukaram Paduka Chowk stand on this road.

The residential rates in this locality are probably the most expensive in Pune at the present.

Laxmi Road

One of the longest commercial streets in Pune, it snakes through the older and seedier parts of the city. It is famous for publishing houses like Nirali and Manali Prakashan, and notorious for Budhwar Peth, the red light area of the city. The road is famous for its variety of ready made shops which attract shoppers from all over the city. The road is the venue for Laxmi puja during the festival of Diwali. After the puja, shopkeepers of the road light fire works as a mark of celebration. This road is worth visiting during the Ganpati festival, Ganesh immersion processions pass through this road every year to the Mula Mutha river. There are many old and famous educational institutions in and around this road like NMV High School, HujurPaga(HHCP) School.

B.T. Kawade Road (BTK)

B.T. Kawade Road, popularly known as BTK, is located near Pune Southern Command (Camp). BTK divides Mundhwa and Ghorpadi, on the east being Mundhwa and on the west, Ghorpadi. BTK is conveniently located, as Pune Railway station, MG Road, Kalyaninagar, Koregaon Park, Fatimanagar, Hadapsar, Empress Garden, Race Course, Swargate, Magarpatta City and few IT companies fall within its 5-6 km vicinity.

With the new 'Udaybagh Kawade Flyover' the BTK Road area is now directly connected to Solapur Road. The Krome Mall, Big-Bazzar, Vishal mega mart, etc. have become the landmarks for this area. With Realince Fresh, Kawade Petrol Pump this road is geared up for the latest infrastructure. All kinds of properties including flats, row houses, pent houses, and twin bungalows can be seen here. The area is very quiet and traffic free (except Ghorpadi railway crossing). The wide 80FT BTK road is now totally renovated. The latest update is the Manjri road connecting to BTK road, thus bringing the Empress Garden, Race Course and CAMP to doorstep.

Jangli Maharaj Road (J. M. Road)

Jangli (also spelled Jangali) Maharaj Road, better known as J.M. Road, is named after Sadguru Jungli Maharaj who’s "Math" or Ashram lies on this road. It is one of the better maintained roads in Pune. It starts from the Sancheti Hospital Intersection at Shivajinagar opposite to the COEP Hostel and heads straight up to Deccan Gymkhana where it ends at the Garware Bridge.

J. M. Road may be thought of as a showcase of Pune's economic progress with a large number of international consumer brands having their outlets and showrooms on this road. It has one of India's first Pizza Hut outlets [ [http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/04/21/stories/2005042101130400.htm The Hindu Business Line : Yum! on expansion spree ] ] , along with a large number of fast food joints and coffee shops. A large public garden called Sambhaji Park occupies a large section on one side of the road. The Bal Gandharva Rangamandir (Bal Gandharva Auditorium) stands at the corner of Sambhaji Park and J. M. Road. A statue of Rani Laxmibai of Jhansi in front of Bal Gandharva Rangamandir is a landmark on this road. Famous for its many restaurants, J. M. Road is one of the busiest places in Pune.

Mahatma Gandhi Road

The rich and famous throng this road. Saturday evenings are very busy and you can find well-off young people in their best clothes thronging the place. Every weekend from 5 to 9pm, the road is cordoned off and no vehicles are allowed, making it a pedestrian area popularly known as Walking Plaza.

Recently, it was made into a Wi-Fi zone so that people on the road can access the Internet.

Aurora Towers is an important commercial building and landmark. Running parallel to this road is East Street. It is far less crowded though almost equally well to do. Many old and well-known shops, restaurants, bakeries and medical or optical practices are based here.

Tilak Road

One of the longest commercial roads in Pune, Tilak road begins where Laxmi road ends. It runs between Deccan Gymkhana and Swargate (Bus Terminus). Sir Parsurambhau (SP) College, Nehru Stadium and Tilak Smarak Mandir are prominent landmarks. JyotirVidya Parisanstha is the oldest Amateur Astronomy Club in India located at the Tilak Smarak Mandir.

Senapati Bapat Road

This road starts at the BMCC (Brihan Maharashtra College of Commerce) Road -Law College Road junction and meanders its way through a tiny mountain pass called in Marathi as the "Khind". The road terminates off Pune University Circle on the Ganesh Khind road. The very Old Chaturshingi Devi Temple lies on this road and a very famous annual street fair is held near the venue. Maharashtra's first Shantanurao Kirloskar International Convention Center (ICC) is on the way to completion and is located on this very road itself. Symbiosis Institute of Business Management (SIBM) lies en route. This road is especially spectacular at night when the long string of street lamps begins to glow, the sight being no less breathtaking than Marine Drive's famed Queen's Necklace in Mumbai. Lately, a lot of IT and BPO companies viz. BMC Software, Persistent Systems and T-Systems have huge infrastructures on this road. Recently a Buddhist Pagoda and also a Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar memorial have been constructed on the hill located on this road.Also Companies like CTS,HCL,Simens located in ICC Building.YARDI SOFTWARE INDIA PVT LTD located in Muttha Chambers and Sigma House.

Dhole Patil Road

This road leads to one of the posh residential and commercial localities of Pune. It also connects to the Boat Club Road which is known for its extravagant real estate prices. Regency Hotel and Hotel Kapila, opposite of Ameya Library are the landmarks here. This is a very food-friendly locale. It also has a number of eateries such as Nandoo's Parathas and Zamu's sizzlers. Dhole Patil road also boasts of the Ganesh and Hanuman temples which are visited by eastern Puneites.

Shirole Road

This road connects Fergusson College (FC) gate on FC Road to Jangli Maharaj Road (JM Rd.). Jog's Bird Breeding Centre lies here. This is mostly residential area.

University Road

This is one of the widest and best constructed roads in Pune. It starts from the SSC Board - Shivaji Nagar State Transport Terminus Intersection at Shivaji Nagar and ends at the Pune University Circle.

University road has four lanes through out, and at places it is even six lanes wide. Several important institutions are on this road, prominent among these are the SSC Board or the State Secondary School Examination Board’s head office, the Bank of Maharashtra’s All India head office, the Agriculture College, Catering College, the Government Polytechnic Pune or GPP, the Police Parade Ground, Shivaji Nagar Bus Terminus, Rahul Theater, another new multiplex named E-Square, several 3 and 4 star hotels, NABARD and the most important of them all, the University of Pune.

Prabhat Road

This road is named after the legendary Prabhat Studios, which in fact made movies and films in the ‘20s and ‘30s right up to the ‘60s. The road ends at the Film and Television Institute of India which is the old erstwhile Prabhat Film Studio. It is now better known for the up market and higher middle echelons of society who live on various lanes intersecting this road. It is amongst the poshest areas of Pune. Interestingly all the roads criss-crossing this road are named 'Prabhat Road lanes’, number 1,2,3,4… etc. or 'Prabhat Road Gullee no 1,2,3,4...' in Marathi.

On offshoots from the Bhandarkar Road, Kamala Nehru Park lies at the Northern end of this road. This road is a very quiet and serene and a cent percent residential locality road though a few commercial establishments have started coming up. Some of the important places located on this road include the Deccan Gymkhana as well as the Tilak tank, which is well known for its Olympic size swimming pool producing many national and international swimmers and water polo players and as the home of the famous Deccan Gymkhana water polo team. The Symbiosis school and also Sou Vimlabai Garware Junior College is also located on this road. A historic Lodge or Motel aptly named the Prabhat Lodge is located at the start of this road.

Law College Road

The Indian Law society's very old and prestigious College has a campus extending to a large section on the right side of this road, and giving its name to the road.

The road is rather straight, starting at the intersection of BMCC road-Senapati Bapat road junction, right opposite to the NCC Parade ground, and flowing steadily on a sloping gradient up to Nul stop on Karve road at Pune's busiest road junction.

The famous Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) and the National Film Archives of India (NFAI) are located here. Primarily an area for academics, this is a very quiet and safe residential locality of Pune, containing posh areas like Kanchan Galaee. Unfortunately now its well-known huge mansion-like bungalows have been turned into large buildings! The lane goes up to the beautiful Hanuman Tekdi and the Hanuman Temple. The important Educational institutions of Abhinav Vidyalaya and INDSEARCH lie on this road. Evenings and mornings, this road experiences terrible traffic jams at the Nul stop junction. This road is one of the few roads still having a cool green cover on both sides in the form of old tall full grown trees. There are many good food joints including Cafe Coffee Day, Barista and Mocha, which are all good brands of coffee shops.The Great Prabhat Rath lives here.

Paud Road

An offshoot of Karve road, this road [http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Paud+Road,+Pune,+India&sll=18.518008,73.835785&sspn=0.009766,0.019956&ie=UTF8&ll=18.506552,73.804865&spn=0.019534,0.039911&z=15&om=1] runs from Paud Phata to the village of Paud via Chandani Chowk. Main areas on this road include Paud phata, Kelewadi, Shrimangal Society, Mayur Colony, Rambaug Colony, Alkapuri Society, Ideal Colony, Aanand Nagar, Bharti Vidyapeeth Corner, MIT Corner, Jai Bhavani Nagar, Shikshak Nagar, Gananjay Society, Gujrath Colony, Shastri Nagar, Bhusari Colony, PMT depot and Chandani Chowk. The famous educational institutions of Bharti Vidhyapeeth, MIT and MIT School of Management are on this road. A very beautiful large Public Garden is under construction on the land of the abandoned garbage dump.

(Sinhgad Road)Tanaji Malusare Path

This road connects Swargate with Anandnagar, Vadgaon Phata, and Dhayri Phata. Starting at the Sarasbaug junction, this road goes straight to the Singhgad Fort Base or Paitha at village Donje. It was one of the most congested roads in Pune due to the exodus of large populations of the middle classes from the old Peth and Gaothan areas in Pune to newly constructed flats and apartments on the way of the fort, which were at a time cheaper than the costs in Pune City.

This road goes parallel to the Mutha Right bank water canal and to the Mutha River. The Khadakwasla Dam is on one side of this road and lots of people throng on the banks of the dam during evenings and in rainy seasons when the water level rises. The important institutions of IAT or Institute of Armament Technology at Girinagar, and the CWPRS or Central Water and Power Research Station, are located on this road. Sinhgad Institute is one of the major assets of the road. It is one of the most popular Institutes in the City.

One can switch over to Mumbai -Bangalore highway from this road at the Wadgaon-Dhairi flyover. Sinhgad road further leads to Khanapur village and Singhgad Payatha, the base of the mountain holding the fort. The condition of the road was not good after Anand Nagar (Atish Complex, Riverview Residency, Vishwas Garden). But recently the road condition after Anand Nagar has improved due to concretisation, a bridge at Vadgaon canal, road dividers, because of the traffic signals at Hingne khurd and Anand nagar, which are newly created. The traffic has become more tolerable.

atara Road

This is the road connecting Swargate bus depot to the Katraj Ghat, a pass through the mountains. This road leads to the city of Satara in the southern part of Maharashtra. Six years ago, Pune's first multiplex, City Pride, was built here. Rajeev Gandhi Park, Bharati Vidyapeeth and Pune Vidhyarthi Griha's Engineering College come across to this road. The Rapid way of Public Transport was firstly started on this road as "Bus Rapid Transport (BRT)".

wami Vivekananda Road

Also known as Bibvewadi road, this road was primarily constructed as an alternative to Satara road. It is one of the wider roads in Pune and a connecting route to the VIT college of engineering.At the end of this road lies Upper Indira Nagar.Ramyanagari, Kothari Block, Premnagar, bibwewadi Gaothan, Mahesh Society, Lower Indira Nagar are some of the main offs of this road.

Landewadi Bhosari Road

This is at a distance of 15 km from Pune Station. It starts from Landewadi Chowk and ends at PCMT bus depot near the vegetable market a.k.a. Bhaji Mandai. It joins the roads from Pimpri, Chinchwad and Nigdi to the Pune-Nashik highway.

Indrayani Nagar - Bhosari

This is situated in the center of Bhosari MIDC industrial area, near the Pune-Nashik Highway ( NH 50).

See also

* Pune
* Pimpri-Chinchwad
* Pune Municipal Transport

References

* [http://www.discoverpune.com DiscoverPune.com]
* [http://www.puneprime.com puneprime.com Information about Pune City & Pune District]