In nine days, over 537 pothole-related complaints registered on PMC app

According to road department officials, road engineers immediately take action once a complaint is received and repair work is carried out by teams appointed under junior engineers

Tired of navigating potholes on city roads, Punekars have made a beeline for the Pune Municipal Corporation’s (PMC’s) ‘PMC Road Mitra’ application (app). In just nine days, over 537 pothole-related complaints have been registered on the app with the civic road department claiming to have resolved 432 of them even as the remaining are being processed.

Continuous heavy rainfall has laid bare even repaired potholes, leaving roads scarred by craters and loose gravel and inconveniencing motorists and pedestrians no end. (REPRESENTATIVE PHOTO)

According to road department officials, road engineers immediately take action once a complaint is received and repair work is carried out by teams appointed under junior engineers. However, continuous heavy rainfall has laid bare even repaired potholes, leaving roads scarred by craters and loose gravel and inconveniencing motorists and pedestrians no end.

Aniruddha Pawaskar, chief superintendent engineer of the road department, said, “The municipal machinery acts on complaints as soon as they are received. Our teams try to resolve the issue in the shortest possible time.”

Ashish Jadhav, superintendent engineer of the road department, said, “Most pothole complaints come from the suburban areas rather than the main city. We have 14 road maintenance vans, one in each ward office. In addition, we have provided funds to junior engineers to repair potholes with the help of private contractors. Potholes are being fixed using a hot and cold mix. We will resolve the remaining complaints in a couple of days. We have set a deadline to repair potholes within 72 hours of receiving complaints.”

Meanwhile, Nitin Pawar, a resident of Wadgaonsheri, said, “The PMC has introduced an application to resolve pothole complaints, but it focuses only on potholes reported on the app. Even potholes that are a few metres away from the complaint spots are ignored. What is the use of complaints then? The PMC should cover the entire road to make it pothole-free. Patching alone cannot achieve the goal of pothole-free roads.”