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PMC to blame for accident at Palace Orchard Chowk on Sunday: Citizens
Two prominent citizens’ forums namely NIBM Annexe Forum and Nyati County Citizens’ Forum – which have been quite vocal about the PMC’s apathy for the last two years – have intensified their protest in the wake of the accident on Sunday
PUNE: After two persons died and several others were injured in a pileup at Palace Orchard Chowk on Sunday, the residents of Mohammad Wadi, Undri and NIBM have come out in strong protest of the Pune Municipal Corporation’s (PMC’s) inaction for the past four years in terms of slope reduction and reconstruction along the road from Clover Mall to Palace Orchard Society.
Notwithstanding, the PMC road department has claimed that currently, it only has a budget for the resurfacing and not reconstruction of roads. Turns out the civic body has not even sought the forest department’s permission for land acquisition for expansion of the side margin of the said road.
Two prominent citizens’ forums namely NIBM Annexe Forum and Nyati County Citizens’ Forum – which have been quite vocal about the PMC’s apathy for the last two years – have intensified their protest in the wake of the accident on Sunday.
NIBM Annexe Forum director Daljeet Goraya said, “The accident took place due to the slope which is steep and has to reduced scientifically as per the road engineering norms. The road work has been left incomplete for the past two years and the PMC road department has been very casual about the work. The PMC must be prosecuted for its negligence which is the main reason behind this accident. The lives of hundreds of commuters are at stake due to the negligent attitude of the civic body.”
Nyati County Citizens’ Forum member Sunil Koloti said, “The driver lost control and could not do anything further which led to the death of innocent persons. The PMC administration has not completed the road reconstruction work or done anything about the slope reduction which is a must to prevent such accidents.”
Whereas PMC sub-engineer Avinash Kamthe said, “Recently, the administrator has approved a Rs6 crores tender for resurfacing the road. If slope reduction is to be carried out, it is a cumbersome job as the forest department’s permission is required and there has to be a separate budget for the same, which is difficult at this stage.”
Hussain Shaikh, a resident of Ganga Kingston, said, “The entire road from Clover Mall to Marvel Sangri must be reconstructed. For that, the hill portion must be dug and at the same time, top quality road material must be used. When citizens are paying crores in taxes, why this lackadaisical attitude on the part of the PMC road department. The accident shows complete failure on the part of the civic body in protecting the lives of commuters and area residents.”
