Vehicular traffic on the busy Mumbai-Bengaluru National Highway was disrupted on Wednesday due to a farmers' protest on the Maharashtra-Karnataka border, prompting police to advise commuters to avoid the route and request Google Maps to mark the affected stretch as closed.
Inspector General of Police, Kolhapur Range, Ranjan Kumar Sharma advised people to use alternative routes.
The police have also written to Google Maps authorities, requesting to mark the affected stretch of National Highway no. 48 as closed due to the agitation underway at the Kognoli toll plaza in Karnataka along the Maharashtra border.
Farmers have been staging the protest over sugarcane prices, ethanol rates and other demands since Tuesday morning.
The agitation has affected traffic moving from Kolhapur and other parts of Maharashtra towards Belagavi and Bengaluru in Karnataka.
The situation remained unchanged on Wednesday morning, as per the office of Pune Range Superintendent of Police (Highway) Dr Shivaji Pawar.
The police urged commuters to avoid travelling on NH-48 unless necessary, as the agitation led to traffic congestion and the situation may take time to normalise.
Sharma said commuters would be informed once the situation improves.
The police have identified two alternative routes for the convenience of travellers - one passing through Satara, Rahimatpur, Vita, Tasgaon, Miraj, Gokak and Belagavi, and the second through Satara, Karad, Islampur, Ashta, Miraj, Kagwad, Gokak and Belagavi.
The police have requested Google Maps to display alerts about the road closure, inform commuters about traffic congestion and delays, and refrain from directing vehicles through the affected stretch until the agitation ends. The platform has also been asked to suggest alternative routes, he said.
The request has been made in view of the safety of long-distance passenger vehicles and heavy goods vehicles travelling along the highway, he said.
The police will inform Google Maps once traffic movement returns to normal so that the closure-related advisories can be withdrawn, the officer said.
Necessary arrangements have been made along these alternative routes with the help of traffic police and local police personnel, Sharma said, urging people to use them if their travel is unavoidable.
(With inputs from PTI)