PMC to rethink use of cement to re-surface roads

PUNE With the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) in an embarrassing situation over potholes in the city, the standing committee chairman has instructed the administration to work on a war footing to clear the potholes

PUNE With the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) in an embarrassing situation over potholes in the city, the standing committee chairman has instructed the administration to work on a war footing to clear the potholes. The PMC is likely to rethink using cement concrete patches to fill the potholes.

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Civic activists, citizens and opposition parties criticised the civic body over the pothole issue. With continuous rain over the last few days, almost all roads have developed potholes.

The Congress party, on Wednesday, held an agitation on Tilak Road over the potholes. Congress leader Sanjay Balgude organised the agitation and Congress leader in the PMC, Aba Bagul, blamed a nexus between administration and contractors for the potholes.

He said, “PMC is spending crores of rupees on roads and resurfacing. Potholes not only emerged on the roads which got dug up, but even on the roads which were constructed a few years ago.”

Standing committee chairman Hemant Rasane said, “It is true that the potholes emerged, but we instructed the administration to clear it on war footing once the rains take a break. We need to rethink the cement patches used on the roads.”

PMC road department head VJ Kulkarni said, “We already instructed the concerned engineers to visit the spots and chalk out a plan to clear the potholes. It’s not possible to clear the potholes in the rain. If we get a break of three or four days, the department will try to clear the potholes.”

Civic activists Vivek Velankar and Qaneez Sukrani blamed the administration and contractors. They said that the resurfacing work was shabby and that the administration did not monitor the technical process.