Nine months following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's inauguration of the Pune Metro service up to Shivajinagar, Maha Metro has finally acknowledged the confusion arising from the absence of direction boards.

"We have initiated the placement of direction boards at our stations. They have been installed at most locations and will soon be present at every station," stated Shravan Hardikar, managing director of Maha Metro, in an interaction with The Indian Express.

Commuters have expressed surprise at MahaMetro's prior lack of action despite the service's opening on August 1 last year, spanning from Pimpri and Vanaaz to Shivajinagar, by the Prime Minister.

The confusion primarily persisted at the interchange station?Civil Court in Shivajinagar. Here, commuters arriving from Pimpri and bound for Garware College and beyond had to disembark and board another train, often finding themselves clueless upon reaching the station.

"At the Civil Court station, confusion prevailed for months. Hundreds of commuters seemed lost, with no Metro staff available to guide them," remarked Sachin Nimbalkar, a regular commuter.

However, recent changes at the Civil Court station have addressed this issue. Two large boards, each around 4 ft tall, now display directions to the escalators leading to Ramwadi or Vanaaz. Additionally, boards indicating directions such as "Towards PCMC" are now visible upon escalator descent.

Meenu Kataria, a resident who previously faced the confusion, stated, "In Delhi, there was never such confusion from the start. It's surprising that Pune Metro took so long to address commuters' troubles."

Other stations also witnessed commuter inconvenience. "Upon exiting at any station from Pimpri to Shivajinagar, it's unclear which side your vehicle is parked on. If you realize you're on the wrong side, you must pay another Rs 10 to cross over," noted Sandeep Sakore, an artist.

However, commuters now find fault with the small size of the direction boards at exit and entry points. "The direction boards are too small, requiring you to get extremely close to read them. Can't the Metro afford larger boards?" questioned Ganesh Shitole, a Bhosari resident.

Hardikar assured that efforts to enhance commuter-friendliness are on-going, with the installation of boards and other measures soon to be completed. (Source: Indian Express)