Earthmover fails to enter as MIT, Pune students barricade hill slope road

We went to continue our work of digging up the road and also to clear the debris, but our JCBs were not allowed inside. After deliberations, a meeting has been planned with city engineer Prashant Waghmare and the MIT officials on Monday, says civic official

The tussle between the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and the Maharashtra Institute of Technology (MIT) over the hill slope road continued on Saturday, as students and security staff of the institute barricaded the road and did not allow the PMC officials nor JCB inside.

A stop-work notice was issued to MIT citing unauthorised work on the hill slope at survey number 123 in Kothrud, and on Friday the PMC had dug up the road being constructed and ordered the institute to clear the debris within two days. (HT PHOTO)

A stop-work notice was issued to MIT citing unauthoriseddebris work on the hill slope at survey number 123 in Kothrud, and on Friday the PMC had dug up the road being constructed and ordered the institute to clear the debris within two days.

A witness to this was Manjiri Zarkar, a resident of Vaidehi Society, which is one of the societies affected by the leftover debris. He said, “Students had gathered at the entrance of the main road and barricaded the road, not allowing the PMC officials nor the JCB inside. This went on for an hour after which PMC workers returned.”

Sudhir Kadam, an official from PMC’s building permission department, said, “We went to continue our work of digging up the road and also to clear the debris, but our JCBs were not allowed inside. After deliberations, a meeting has been planned with city engineer Prashant Waghmare and the MIT officials on Monday.”