The Bombay-Poona Road: Story of a highway!

In today's world, travelling from Mumbai to Pune or vice versa is a breeze. For those of us who remember the two-lane road and its serpentine traffic jams, the Expressway came as a much needed relief. But connectivity between the two cities has a long and interesting history. A history involving war, Wellesley, metalled roads, palanquins and stage coaches! Difficult to imagine that the trip which can be done in a couple of hours today, was once a week-long affair!

Over 200 years ago, the route from Pune to Mumbai consisted of a little more than a trekking route, passable just by horses in its toughest part – the Bhor ghat. It was in use though, as one of the passes that connected the Konkan to the Deccan plateau. Lohgad and Visapur were frequently mentioned as forts guarding this ghat. In 1779, the Mumbai-Pune route was the theatre of a hard fought battle between the British and the Marathas. Panvel, Khopoli, Khandala, Bhor ghat, Talegaon – all these familiar names find a mention in the lead up to the battle of Wadgaon.

It was precisely the defeat in this battle that convinced the British of the importance of building a better road to connect their major possession and what was then one of the most important cities in the country – Pune. The initial aim of the British was to make a road fit to carry their artillery pieces up the Bhor ghat. The real impetus to connecting the two cities came in 1803, after the Second Anglo-Maratha War. Peshwa Bajirao II made peace with the British by signing the Treaty of Bassein. This allowed the East India Company much greater say in the Mumbai-Pune region. Wellesley used the lull in hostilities to built a road connecting the Bhor ghat to Pune. It had stone paving and bridges in many sections. The Bombay Gazetteer of 1885 mentions that some relics of Wellesley's road were visible right into the 1870s. The old Bombay-Poona highway (erstwhile NH 4, now NH 48) more or less follows the road set down by Wellesley.

With the defeat of the Marathas in 1818, connectivity between Pune and Mumbai assumed even more importance. A few years later, a military road branching off the Mumbai-Pune highway at Talegaon was constructed and linked to the barracks at Kirkee. Even today, it serves as an important feeder/ branch of the main highway.

Interestingly, the Mumbai-Pune highway is consistently mentioned as the Poona-Panvel highway! The reason being that travel from Panvel to Mumbai had to be done by boat. But the road constructed by Wellesley was nothing like what it is today. It was a little more than a cart track. However, it successfully managed to cut down the travel time between the two cities from a week to around 3-4 days. The ubiquitous palanquin was still the vehicle of choice for those not wishing to ride a horse all the way. Surprisingly, it was the postal department which provided palanquin bearers and rest houses called 'Dak Bungalows' along the way! It was not until 1830, that a road fit for horse drawn carriages was built across the ghats. The then Bombay Presidency Governor, Sir John Malcolm, had opened the refurbished road, marking a definite progress from the road built by Wellesley.

In the span of a few years, the road had progressed from a track meant for horses to horse-drawn carriages. But, a change was on the horizon that would revolutionize travelling not just in Mumbai and Pune, but across the country. It was the 'Railways'. The Mumbai-Pune route was ready in 1863, including a unique 'reversing station' at Bhor ghat. Unlike the highway, quite a few relics of the past can be seen on the railway route. The Railway, for the first time, cut travelling time between the two cities to less than a day and remains one of the fastest modes of transport even today. As early as 1901, the railway was enabling a four-hour journey!

It was apparent that the highway was developed as per the increasing needs such as the number and type of vehicles. In 1922, 'reliability trials' of cars between Mumbai and Pune were already underway on the highway, probably on a road now fast getting covered with a new material – asphalt ! Post-independence, committees such as the Jayakar committee and the India Roads Congress chalked out plans for the many highways in the country, including this one. But the road continued to be two-laned well into the Nineties. Expressway, opened at the turn of the century, was the first major development of the road since independence and the NH 4 itself was widened subsequently. The journey of the road goes on – from a track fit for trekking to two highways (old and new) with multiple lanes!

The writer is the author of Brahmaputra — Story of Lachit Borphukan and Sahyadris to Hindukush — Maratha Conquest of Lahore and Attock