Civic activist wants officers, contractors held accountable for potholes

PUNE Civic activist Vivek Velankar has demanded that action be taken against officers of the Pune municipal corporation (PMC) and contractors, over the potholes in the city

PUNE Civic activist Vivek Velankar has demanded that action be taken against officers of the Pune municipal corporation (PMC) and contractors, over the potholes in the city.

HT Image

In a letter to the municipal commissioner, Velankar blamed the administration and contractors for the potholes.

He said, “We wrote the letter before the monsoon and warned about potholes as the repair work was shabby. A few years ago PMC framed guidelines for road works, including repairing potholes. Despite that the officers neglected the work.”

Velankar alleged that now the civic body will repair the potholes “hurriedly in the rainy season”, and within a month it will need to carry out the same work again. “It is a waste of tax payers money,” he said.

Pothole politics

Potholes are been an election campaign issue for a few years now. The NCP had come to power on the issue, and earlier, the Congress used to dominate city elections, but potholes on city roads was an issue that, looking back, may have cost them in Pune.

With the BJP in power now, potholes will once again figure prominently in the election agenda for the civic polls, expected later in the year.

The Congress party, getting warmed up, held an agitation in Pune on Wednesday on the pothole issue.