Deputy Commissioner of Police (traffic) Manoj Patil said PCMC was within its power to impose such a fine. However, even before the plan takes effect, the traffic police have struck a discordant note. Patil said traffic police wanted to impose the fine of Rs 2,500.

Patil said that in Pune city, the Pune Municipal Corporation was imposing a maximum fine of Rs 5,000 in areas barred for trucks and private luxury buses. “After PCMC finalises the plan, we will request the civic body to allow us to impose the fine on errant vehicles. We don’t want the money for ourselves, we shall use it for improving traffic infrastructure,” Patil said.

Meanwhile, Sharma said PCMC would set up 10 parking zones on both sides of highway from Nigdi to Dapodi.

“One of the biggest parking zones will be behind the Ambedkar statue in Pimpri. The open space there will be used as parking zone and will not be handed over for any other activity,” he said.

City engineer Eknath Ugile said the civic administration and the traffic police were carrying out surveys on the highway to set up the parking zones. “We are doing our best to set up the parking zones in time,” he said. The Pune-Mumbai highway opened two months back. It has three grade separators, at Pimpri, Chinchwad and Akurdi and an overbridge at Nigdi.

Work on another bridge at Nashik Phata is awaiting civic green signal. Ever since it opened, encroachers like mechanics and vendors have taken over.