Pune-Nagar Highway Jammed for 3rd Day as Punekars Leave for Diwali; Residents’ Reels Show Empty City Roads

Pune, 7th November 2026: The Pune-Ahilyanagar highway was jammed for a third straight day on Saturday, November 7, with queues of 10 to 12 km between Wagholi and Shirur as thousands left the city for Diwali. Inside Pune, residents posted reels of roads that were suddenly empty.

Traffic heading from Pune towards Ahilyanagar was close to a standstill around Wagholi, Sanaswadi, Shikrapur, Ranjangaon and Shirur, Sakal reported on Saturday afternoon. TV9 Marathi carried the same picture in its live updates.

What residents filmed on the Nagar highway

The clearest view of the jam came from people stuck in it. A reel by Pune creator @pune.007_ with the caption “Pune Nagar highway completely jammed” shows cars, buses and trucks standing still on both sides of a dusty stretch, with passengers stepping out of their vehicles. It had close to 17,000 likes within a day.

Another reel, titled “Pune to Nagar, Diwali 2026” by @its_akshay_shinde94, crossed 12,000 likes after it was posted on Thursday, the first day of the jam.

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Video: @pune.007_ on Instagram

Why the Nagar road chokes every Diwali

The Pune-Ahilyanagar road is the main route for people from Pune and Mumbai heading to Marathwada and Vidarbha. Diwali is when many who moved to Pune for work go back to their villages. This year the jam began on Thursday, November 5, the day before Dhanteras.

The stretch past Wagholi also carries daily traffic to the Sanaswadi, Shikrapur and Ranjangaon industrial areas, so festive traffic piles on top of factory buses and goods trucks. The planned Pune ring road is meant to take some of this load off the city’s exits. Our Pune ring road status report has the latest on that project.

Other exits were busy too. Residents posted traffic clips from the Pune-Satara road and the Pune-Kolhapur highway on Saturday morning.

Meanwhile, inside Pune: “Where did everyone go?”

The same exodus left many city roads unusually quiet. A reel by @kartiik_dhoot, captioned “Finally, Pune can breathe”, shows a tree-lined road with only a few vehicles, with the Marathi words “rahile fakt Punekar” (only Punekars are left) on screen. It had about 20,000 likes by Saturday evening.

Page @pune_browser posted a wide road under a metro viaduct with almost no traffic, joking that the people who came to Pune for jobs are nowhere to be seen.

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Video: @kartiik_dhoot on Instagram

If you are driving out this weekend

• Start very early in the morning or late at night if you must use the Nagar road
• Check live traffic on a map app before leaving; jams were reported both on Friday and Saturday
• Carry water and snacks, since queues of over 10 km can take hours to clear
• Inside the city, Pune Metro runs only from 6 am to 8 pm on Sunday, November 8, for Lakshmi Pujan. See the revised metro timings

Expect the return rush after Bhau Beej

Bhau Beej falls on Wednesday, November 11, and the return trip usually brings its own jams. In 2025, Punekars coming back after Diwali were stuck between the Katraj tunnel and the Warje flyover for about an hour and a half, Punekar News reported, with heavy traffic on the Nagar, Solapur and Satara roads as well.

No special traffic plan for the Nagar highway had been announced by the traffic police when this story was published. We will update this story if diversions are announced.

Frequently asked questions

Why is the Pune-Nagar highway jammed?

Large numbers of people are leaving Pune and Mumbai for their villages in Marathwada and Vidarbha for Diwali, and the road also carries heavy industrial traffic past Wagholi.

Which stretch of the Pune-Ahilyanagar highway is worst?

Sakal reported queues of 10 to 12 km between Wagholi, Sanaswadi, Shikrapur, Ranjangaon and Shirur on November 7.

When will Diwali return traffic hit Pune?

Return traffic usually peaks after Bhau Beej, which is on Wednesday, November 11, 2026, and over the following weekend.