From Chembur to Wakkad
My childhood friend Keerthi from cbe, stays in Pune and he’s been nachufying me to visit Pune for quite sometime. Since I was in Mumbai anyway, I thought this was the time to make the Pune visit. The only opportunity was on a Sunday which was a free day. The plan was to start for Pune on Saturday evening after the classes, reach Pune by night, stay there for the most part of Sunday and leave for Mumbai by Sunday night.
I had asked one of my friends to get me a bus ticket to Pune on Saturday evening. He promptly handed me the tickets on Saturday Morning. The bus was at 7 PM in the same day. Till that time I was under the impression that like all other travel, train journey would be faster and that I am boarding a bus because of practical reasons like distance between Powai and boarding point for train.
The auto-wallah dropped me in Chembur. I was supposed to board the Pune bus from there. The ticket was about 230 bucks. Ange ponappuram dhaan therinjidhu that place was like a mini-koyambedu for all omni buses.
The ticket header says “Sri Krishna tours and travels”, the boarding point was mentioned as “Yogi Travels” (which turned out to be wrong, it was meant to be “Yogi Hotels” stop). The bus was mentioned as just “Neeta Volvo”
Most of the buses have names entirely different from any that I would like to see. When I asked someone in my butler Hindi, he just said “wait here”. None of the buses display their destination in their boards. Endha omnibus la board irukku? That was not the boarding point for just Pune bound buses. I was astonished to see people traveling to places like Bangalore, Gulbarga, Hyderabad, Goa, Hubli.. you name it, thru these onmnibuses. There were like 5 buses in 5 minutes and I could not figure out which goes where. Thiruvizha vile kaanama pona madhiri irundhudhu…
My friend also kept calling the bus as “Neeta” Volvo. I initially thought this was a model of Volvo. As it turned out, the Neeta part was the name of the travels. This “Sree Krishna” was the name of the agent. Later I discovered the Neeta office and asked them for my 7 PM bus. It was already 7:20 and I was kind a scared that I’d missed my bus. He again said “Wait here”.
After about 5 mins, he shouted “Poona ”, I just wanted to confirm if this was the 7 PM bus. He casually said that I can board any of their Pune bound buses!!
Enna matter na those guys operate a Volvo bus between Mumbai and Pune every 15 minutes! Not to mention they are just one among the N other operators who run Volvo A/c buses between Pune and Mumbai. Only that their frequency is like one every 30 mins!.
Why would so many people take a bus to go to Pune? I was to figure out the reason about 45 mins later.
I was anticipating something like 4 hours journey. The bus reached Panvel at about 8:20 PM. that is ok considering the peak hour traffic in Mumbai .
The Panvel-Pune expressway was nothing like I’ve seen and experienced in Indian Roads before. And mind you, I’ve seen and used our very own ECR and our GST till dindivanam too. What would you feel like if you find 3 Lanes wide open for you on one side, followed by a very wide center median, and then another 3 lanes for the oncoming traffic?? One does not expect to see such roads in India. The bus speed was equivalent to a superfast train, and effortlessly at that. Every now and then I could read signs like “Do not stop on the expressway” etc. maybe for security reasons.
It was 5 mins past 10 when the guy started screaming “Wakkad!” - the place where I was supposed to get down in Pune. We had reached Pune after exactly 2.30 hours from Chembur!
On the other hand, I was told the trains typically take 4 hours (except for Deccan Queen one of the most prestigious trains in India, which manages the distance in about 3.30 hours)
The stretch of 90 odd kms in the expressway was covered in something like 80 mins which included a 20 min break in a wonderful highway motel. I was so impressed with that motel that I will devote an entire post for that. This also includes a small ghat section just before Lonawala. But for the stoppage, I guess he would’ve reached Pune in about an hour from Panvel!
In other words they average like 60 miles per hour (90 odd kms per hour). Which means they should maintain a good 10 kmph more than what they average. Not to mention some cars whizzed past the bus as if we were stationary!.
Obviously, I was very pleased to find such a road in India. No wonder this expressway has become the preferred way of travel between Mumbai and Pune.
But I also thought about the pollution and the consequences to the environment. Thousands of vehicles use this expressway and its anybody’s guess about their impact on the environment. I think those who maintain the expressway should plant trees wherever possible in the medians.
But all in all, we need more such roads in other parts of India. Our very own ECR looks like a single stretch road when compared to the Mumbai-Pune Expressway.
October 19th, 2006 at 1:50 pm
PK - I remember my Brother in Law often saying that Travelling gives you more exposure after reading your post. Parunga…Parunga… Namba voorileye evaluvu vithyasam. After reading your narration, I think I should travel once and see for myself. I was born in Pune, and remember last visiting 22 years before. I have found it well developed and different in those days. No wonder, it should be great now. I have heard from my offshore colleagues that Pune is a Wi-fi enabled city. Did you hear anything about it? Appuram… konja konjamai come out and see… then we will know about our Tamil Nadu. We have got a long way to go mate.
October 19th, 2006 at 5:52 pm
Hi PK
I remember a special edition on the same expressway (going by your words) in NDTV or CNN IBN sometime back. Nice to see such a road. Also heard that there is an ambulance that flies on the same road which is incomparable.
October 19th, 2006 at 6:42 pm
How much did it cost you? There is the famous Asiad service from Dadar-Pune which used to be Rs.120 4 yrs back and was excellent.
Buses used to stop at a posh garden restaurant near Khandala - it had atrociously sized and priced idlis
October 20th, 2006 at 6:22 am
mmm, 6 lanes on indian road, glad to know that we are rising up. but maintenance, how to convert them into eco-friendly roads, ithellam we should learn from other countries and implement.
October 20th, 2006 at 10:34 am
nd mind you, I’ve seen and used our very own ECR and our GST till dindivanam too.
edhukku namma ooru road-ah compare panringa?
October 20th, 2006 at 11:34 am
Balaji sir,
i agree that travelling gives one more exposure…
i think the bottomline is see the scope of improvement in one’s own place and try to bring abt a positive change..
October 20th, 2006 at 11:34 am
active reader,
enakku TV avlova othukadhu ba:)
thanks for the info
October 20th, 2006 at 11:36 am
ttm,
Neeta Volvo charges 230 Rs.
andha Highway motel evlovo mel…
avlo decent aana oru toilet naan namba ooru satyam teatre la kooda parthadhu illai..
if he can maintain things so well and yet charge only 25Rs for an oothappam( which s less than or equal to our Saravana Bhavan)
i would settle for their service anyday..
October 20th, 2006 at 11:36 am
srikanth,
ejatlee!
how enviroment friendly are those is a valid question
October 20th, 2006 at 11:38 am
karthik BS
unmaya sollanumna, u shud try the GST from chennai to Dindivanam. same with ECR ( though ECR is just a single lane for each direction)
our roads r not bad.. only that they pale after seeing the expressway..
i would be very glad if all the major roads in Tamil Nadu are atleast in the same shape as our GST till Dhindivanam
October 20th, 2006 at 12:06 pm
romba super ah explain panni irukeenga PK exp way pathi…athu construction aagitu irukum pothu some time in ‘98 andha vazhiya poiruken…
October 20th, 2006 at 12:06 pm
you have put almost 3 posts aana innum matter ku vara matengarengaley…srikanth ithu ellam ketka maateengala
October 20th, 2006 at 3:24 pm
anaathe, mm nu oru vaarthai solunga, voodu katti kalaaikuren…
anaathae, aan nu oru vaarthai solunga, kadaiya moodi kalaaikuren…
anaathe, nee hkum nu oru varthai solunga, round katti kalaaikuren…
next post enga chapaathi figures pathi neeti mozhaki ezhuthala, ithu kalavaraboomi aayirum, aayiduveenga…
romba mukiyam, pechu pechaa irukanum soliten P.K.
;p
October 21st, 2006 at 10:09 pm
Nice narration.
PS: Adhenna edhavudhu news solla poreengalaa ellarukku, syam and srikanth saying something here? Vivaramaaga kooravum
October 23rd, 2006 at 9:38 am
PK,
Night bus covers the distance in 4.5 to 5 hrs 
Try chennai-bangalore next time
And best part of expressway is, it is entirely fenced and has underpasses and overbridges for every village.
October 23rd, 2006 at 11:03 am
syam,
danks for the apreciation:)
aprom indha chapathi figure pathi pesanumnu nenacha type adikka kai vara maatengudhu:) manichukonga!:)
October 23rd, 2006 at 11:04 am
srikanth,
indha chennai corporation therdhal la nee illama poitte!
DMK la unna rombo miss panninadha kelvi!:))
October 23rd, 2006 at 11:04 am
WA,
eenga vera eduthu kudukaraangala! apdi ellam mukiyamaana mater illai!:)
October 23rd, 2006 at 11:06 am
ferrari,
yep i too heard that.
it was incredible when one of my friend said she and her hubby made the distance in about 3.45 hrs in running time in their toyota innova! modalla namba mudila but now i think i have to believe her!
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