Pune police have rejected permission for competitive examination aspirants to continue their protest on S M Joshi Bridge near Patrakar Bhavan and directed them to vacate the public road, citing traffic disruption and public order concerns. The students have been told they may continue their agitation only at an alternative location designated by the district administration.
The protest has centred on a range of pending demands raised by competitive examination aspirants. According to the police, the occupation of the bridge, a busy road in central Pune, has affected traffic movement and caused inconvenience to commuters. Authorities have maintained that the students cannot continue their agitation at the current site without fresh permission.
The dispute follows a sequence of discussions and administrative decisions over the proposed protest. The students had announced an indefinite agitation from October 2. Before that, representatives met Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on September 30. The administration said the discussions were positive and that a resolution had been reached on most of the issues raised by the students.
Following the meeting, student representatives submitted a written communication stating that the proposed agitation was being called off. Police have said that, because of this communication, the earlier permission granted for the protest ceased to remain valid. The administration has therefore treated any subsequent occupation of the bridge as requiring fresh approval.
According to the police account, the situation changed on October 1, when students gathered at S M Joshi Bridge and began a sit-in without obtaining new permission. The authorities have now refused permission for the protest to continue at that location and instructed the students to shift to the alternative site identified by the district administration.
The decision places the protest at the intersection of two competing civic requirements: the students’ demand for a public platform to press their grievances and the administration’s responsibility to keep a central traffic route operational. The police position, as reported, is that the location of the sit-in has created an obstruction for commuters and raised public-order concerns.
The immediate impact is on access to the bridge and traffic movement around Patrakar Bhavan, although the supplied report does not provide figures on delays, vehicle volumes or the number of protesters involved. It also does not identify the alternative location or specify whether the students have agreed to move there.
The administration’s next step is for protesters who wish to continue the agitation to use the alternative site designated by the district authorities. The police have not permitted the sit-in to continue on S M Joshi Bridge, while the students’ broader demands remain the subject of the earlier discussions with the state government.
