There are thousands of employees working in Mumbai who daily commute from Pune to Mumbai and back. Pune is about 170 kilometers from Mumbai. The roads between these two cities have improved, but the number of travelers has increased beyond imagination.
Office employees and daily wagers face hardships while traveling from Pune to Mumbai and back. The popular modes of transport used here is train, bus, taxis and private vehicles. Air travel is also available.
There are thousands of employees working in government departments, agencies, and private companies who daily commute from Pune from Pimpri-Chinchwad, Talegaon, and Lonavala areas to Mumbai.
The financial stress of commuting and the fear of job loss, has taken a toll on the mental and physical health of the employees.
They were bearing these hardships during normal times. But the lockdown has changed the scenario completely.
The railway and bus service is not available due to lockdown measures, they have to put their lives in danger while traveling by road on two-wheelers and four-wheelers every day.
The state government has asked employees for once a week attendance but in some departments, almost 50 to 75 percent of the staff strength has been asked to report to the office.
Hence, the employees have to travel by their own vehicles to the office. Some male employees are doing it, but for women employees, it is too unsafe and unhealthy. So there is a just demand to at least start the bus service between the two cities.
"I travel 200 kilometers every day from Pune to Mumbai. We are four of us and use carpooling service. I used to travel by Sahyadri Express every day and I felt safe by train. But by road in a car, I don't feel safe especially now when the rains have started,” a passenger from Pune said.
A woman passenger said, "I travel from Pune to Mumbai. Earlier I used to take the Deccan Queen at 6 am every day. I have two children and for the last three months, I managed to balance work by taking leaves. I have the option of travel by private vehicles, but good food and clean toilets are not available by road. So women have to face a lot of trouble."
The official says that the number of passengers who used Pragati, Deccan, Sinhagad, and Intercity-Express for commuting to and fro Pune, Mumbai is very large. In the 12 trips that are scheduled daily, the trains are fully occupied. Around 1500 passengers travel through the train at one time. The decision to start local and other trains will be taken by the central government and we have to wait for it."
Very heavy traffic jam at Panvel and Chembur. This causes loss of precious time and the commuters have to breathe for hours in the polluted air. This is definitely going to cause health problems.
Landslide at the ghats is quite common in the monsoon season. Whenever there is landslide, the traffic comes to a standstill.
Low visibility due to rains. The traffic moves very slowly. This can also cause major accidents.
More vehicles compared to the roads so the movement of the vehicles is slow. The life of these commuters is nothing lesser than an ordeal.
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