Pune police have rejected permission for competitive examination aspirants to continue their protest on the S M Joshi Bridge near Patrakar Bhavan, citing traffic disruption and public order concerns, and have directed them to vacate the central Pune road. The administration has asked the students to shift their agitation to an alternative location designated by the district authorities.
The students have been protesting over several pending demands. Police said the occupation of the busy bridge affected traffic movement and caused inconvenience to commuters using the route. Authorities have maintained that the protesters cannot continue their agitation at the current location without fresh permission.
The dispute follows a sequence of announcements and meetings involving the student representatives and the administration. The students had announced an indefinite agitation from October 2. Before that, their representatives met Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on September 30 to discuss their demands.
According to the administration, the discussions were positive and resulted in a resolution on most of the issues raised by the aspirants. After the meeting, student representatives submitted written communication stating that the proposed agitation had been called off. Police have therefore maintained that the earlier permission granted for the protest ceased to remain valid after the representatives communicated that the agitation would not proceed.
The situation changed on October 1, when students gathered at the S M Joshi Bridge and began a sit-in protest. Police said the gathering took place without new permission. The administration has now refused permission for the protest to continue at the bridge and instructed the students to use the alternative site identified by the district authorities.
The police action places the protest at the intersection of public demonstration rules and the operation of a central urban road. S M Joshi Bridge is near Patrakar Bhavan, an area with regular commuter movement, and the authorities have linked the decision specifically to disruption on the route rather than to the students’ demands. The supplied report does not identify the alternative location or provide details of the issues that remain unresolved.
For commuters, the immediate administrative position is that the bridge cannot be used as the protest site. For the students, any continuation of the agitation will require a shift to the designated alternative location or fresh permission under the applicable administrative process. Police have directed them to vacate the bridge, while the district administration’s alternative-site arrangement remains the next stated step.
