In the build-up to the World Cup’s return to Pune after 27 years, the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) had claimed to have done its best to make it convenient for spectators. However, the first of the five matches — and undoubtedly the most high-profile the city is to host in this edition — to be hosted here ended with the same old problems cropping up again.
With almost a five kilometre-long stretch, while approaching the MCA stadium, being a single-lane service road off the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, traffic snarls are as common as high scores at the venue. Multiple spectators believed the traffic management was worse than what they had witnessed in the Indian Premier League.
“Signage was missing, the police were not letting cars or two-wheelers drive towards the designated parking lots and it was quite a mess,” said Kedar Sathe, an Indian Railways employee who was seated in the north stand.
“After we finally managed to park somewhere, we had to stand in long queues to get to the gates and nobody knew whether the queue was the one for their gate. There were no volunteers to guide us as well.”
No wonder then that Atharva Rale, an 18-year-old engineering student, and his three friends took more than two and half hours to reach their seat after starting from their home 25kms away from the stadium.
“The last five kilometres took almost an hour and a half. We started hoping to watch the toss but by the time we entered the stands, Hardik Pandya had long been injured and was back into the dressing room,” said Rale.
As a result, for the first half of the match, the stadium appeared to be far from being fully occupied. Long queues, stretching beyond a kilometre, were observed outside gates even after the match had begun.
The regulars or smart operators knew how to beat the traffic. Sunil Gondhali, a 62-year-old retired corporate professional, decided to adopt the early-starter route.
“Sensing the usual traffic jam, we decided to drive down early. And it was quite seamless. We got a slot in a parking lot closest to the ground. Overall it has been an enjoyable experience,” he said.
“Unlimited water supply, washroom taps have never run dry too. The only suggestion is to increase the number of dustbins to maintain the highest standard of cleanliness. Also, the refreshment area is too small for the volume of crowd it caters to,” he added.
The newly-elected regime at MCA, headed by Rohit Pawar, has introduced multiple measures like acquiring 42-acres of land in and around the stadium for parking lots and providing free drinking water across the stadium.
Perhaps the administrators have a lot of room to improve on to make it a thoroughly memorable experience for the spectators!
