Pune: Residents Demand Immediate Reopening of Fatimanagar T-Junction for Pedestrian Safety
Fatimanagar, 12th August 2025: Residents of Fatimanagar, backed by the Save Pune Traffic Movement (SPTM), staged a symbolic protest on Monday evening, demanding the immediate reopening of the Fatimanagar T-junction. The closure of the junction, they say, has jeopardised pedestrian safety and disrupted public transport and emergency services.
According to residents, the closure has forced pedestrians to cross busy, high-speed traffic without safe infrastructure, while Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) buses and ambulances are being forced to take long, inconvenient detours.
In a striking show of solidarity, volunteers wearing helmets formed a human chain to help people cross the road safely, a gesture intended to highlight the infrastructure the city should provide for pedestrians.
Key Demands:
-Reopen the T-junction immediately.
-Restore functioning traffic signals.
-Paint clear zebra crossings.
They have rejected alternative measures such as replacing the cement barrier with bollards, simply turning on the signal without reopening the junction, or building pedestrian subways and foot overbridges — which they say are unsafe, inaccessible, and discriminatory towards senior citizens, children, and persons with disabilities.
A local senior citizen, Asha Shinde, said the protest was about asserting the basic right of pedestrians to walk and cross roads safely. “Unfortunately, our city prioritises motor vehicles over pedestrians,” she said.
Another resident, Nazir Khan, highlighted that schoolchildren are also at risk. “The facility that once allowed them to cross safely has been taken away to speed up vehicular movement,” he said.
