E-Paper
Dug-up roads in Pune turn into nightmare for pedestrians
As per the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) May 31 is the deadline to repair all such dug-up roads, but locals claim work on these roads is moving at snail’s pace
Pedestrians and motorists passing through the Sahakarnagar Road area in front of the Treasure Park Society, which has been excavated for more than a month, run the risk of injury every day. Similarly, other roads in the city have been excavated to be repaired or concreted. As per the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) May 31 is the deadline to repair all such dug-up roads, but locals claim work on these roads is moving at snail’s pace.
“I daily travel from the Sahakarnagar Road, which goes from the Aranyeshwar Chowk, and it has been dug up on one side, the work is stagnant since last several days,” said Ketan Khatri, a local resident.
Also, barricading is not proper, and vehicles passing by can fall on other sides of the dug-up road, he added.
Similarly, the road has been dug up at several spots at Katraj and Bharati Vidyapeeth in Morebaug area. On one side the road concretisation work is done by the PMC road department, while the other side has been dug and left open by the contractor.
“It is too risky for two-wheelers and pedestrians commuting on this road as anyone can slip and fall into the dug-up road. When it rains the road becomes slippery and even riskier,” said Prajakta Joshi, another local resident.
“We have complained about this issue to the local PMC ward office in the last month; to complete the unfinished repair works but they give no proper response. If any mishap takes place due to these open pits and dug-up roads then who will be responsible for it,” said Atul Namekar, secretary, Sinhagad Road-Warje Residents’ Association.
Aniruddha Pawaskar, head, PMC road department, said, “Several road repairing works are underway in full swing across the city and it will be completed within time.”
