Lonavla: Not what meets the eye
However, much to the dismay of many tourists the beauty of nature ends the moment one enters into Lonavla. The quiet and peaceful highway drive is replaced with hours and hours of waiting in traffic coupled with a struggle to find a parking spot. Dna decided to give the town a visit to see for itself, the issues that mar Lonavla’s image of being a perfect tourist destination.
Horn Not Ok Please
Lonavla is a sought-after holiday spot for Puneites and Mumbaikars, owing to its proximity to both the cities. That is why, more often than not, people from these cities flock to the town on the weekends and during monsoon. However, the bad traffic scenario makes sure the tourists undergo an ordeal to navigate through Lonavla. Mumbai resident, Bharat Rohira, who has a farm house at Lonavla, visits the town frequently.
“The traffic scene in the town is quite disappointing, even for a person like me who comes from a crowded city like Mumbai. The idea of holidaying is to get a break from one’s routine life. But, all I ever get in Lonavla is bad traffic, which is no different from my regular life in Mumbai,” says Rohira.
Police Inspector Vishnu Pawar explains that the reason behind the traffic problem in Lonavla, are the roads — all of them are narrow with two-way traffic on each. Speaking about the issue at length he says, “The traffic here is a nuisance with narrow roads and the two-way traffic. The situation worsens because of the tourists, who park the vehicles on the road, further narrowing the passage for vehicles,” he says.
Add to that the non-functional signals, and you get a tricky situation to manoeuvre. Pawar explains, “Owing to the accumulation of moisture during the rainy season none of the signals are functional. The concerned officials haven’t paid any cognizance to the issue, and haven’t repaired them. We start our day at 9.30am, which goes on till 10-10.30pm. It gets very difficult to manage the traffic manually.”
The traffic is the worst at Mahavir Chowk, which is right in front of Kumar Resort, a popular water park. Although Lonavla Municipal Council was approached several times by the traffic police to widen the roads, they were told that these roads were not under their administration and that it was the duty of Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) to look into the matter.
A resident of Lonavla, Murali G Pillai, director of JJ Hotels and Resorts, that manages Kumar Resorts, says, “A major reason that causes excess traffic in Lonavla is that not many people know of the diversion
that leads to Karla through the Mumbai-Pune Express Highway. So they enter the town via Lonavla, causing additional traffic on the roads.”
Parking woes
A town with a population of approximately 55,000, Lonavla swells to 1,00,000 – 1,50,000 on weekends and during monsoon. While the residents themselves are struggling with narrow roads, the touristy days make it a nightmare. Almost all the public places in Lonavla – restaurants, hotels, touristy spots – lack parking space. That forces the tourists to park their vehicles on the roads, adding to the traffic situation.
Sonali Hujwant, a non-resident Indian, visited Lonavla along with her husband and child, after 20 years. She was shocked with the state of affairs. “It took us 45-minutes to an hour to reach Lonavla from Pune. But thanks to the never-ending traffic and the lack of parking space at public places, we kept roaming around inside the city for two hours. It was exhausting.”
Incredibly Disappointing
The biggest irony as a tourist spot, Lonavla has just two major hotels and no tourist guides. Disappointed with the lack of guides, Hujwant, says, “Before visiting the city, I searched the internet about Lonavla tourism, but there was no factual information available. Also, I could not find a single guide on the spot who could show us the must visit locations of the town.” She felt that the town is utterly unorganised with no proper sign boards or parking maps to guide the visitors.
She drew a comparison, “In foreign countries the visitors get all the information on the internet or have facilities of calling helplines if they need any information. But Lonavla disappointed me.”The LMC hasn’t done much to develop most of the tourist spots in Lonavla. Most of the parks, do not have any lighting arrangements, which makes it inconvenient for evening visits.
When dna approached the LMC Counciller, Shridhar S Poojari, regarding this issue, he replied, “Most of the tourist spots such as Lion’s point and the like, are naturally made, so we can’t do anything. We get Rs8-10 crore from the government, but, out of this 50% goes into constructing and reconstructing roads, leaving us with hardly any money to develop the tourist destinations.” He added that the LMC is planning to invite private sector to come with a proposal to develop tourist destinations. “On our own, we can’t manage the entire thing, with little money at our disposal.”