Entry for tourists, no entry for locals

Only visitors to Osho meditation resort allowed to use Lane No 1 in Koregaon Park; others told to take longer route

Those visiting the Osho International Meditation Resort are getting exclusive treatment, or so it seems. The Lane No 1 has been blocked and is only accessible to them. This has caused inconvenience to thousands of patients and their relatives who visit the Inlaks Budhrani Hospital for emergency medical aid.

Mayor Mohansingh Rajpal had written a letter to the Commissioner of Police in September requesting that both the roads should not be closed.

This MiD DAY reporter tried to pass through the road on a two-wheeler, but she was asked to halt and informed that the road had been closed after the German Bakery blast. When the reporter told the private security guard that such instructions were neither issued by the police nor by the PMC, the guards did not budge. When this reporter called Senior PI of Bundgarden Police Station Suhas Nadgauda, he said: "The road is not closed to vehicles. However, we have asked the policemen on duty to frisk all the passersby and then only allow them to pass."

After PI Nadgauda spoke to the policeman on duty Kothmire, they then reluctantly allowed this reporter to pass.

Minutes later, when a tempo arrived from the other side to deliver construction material to the resort, the barricades were removed and the vehicle allowed in without any questioning.

Narrating his experience,
S V Ahmed Shah, a resident, said: "When my son had dog bite, I wanted to admit him to Budhrani Hospital but the guards posted there asked me to use another route. I was forced to take a longer route and had to travel 2 km extra."

Koregaon Park Kruti Samiti members have raised concerns about the resort's intention to close the road to others, by erecting boom barricades at the beginning of Lane No 1 and near Budhrani Hospital.