Pune: The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has issued show-cause notices to five junior engineers for allegedly failing to conduct regular inspections of civic issues in their assigned areas, raising questions over the implementation of the civic body's monitoring mechanism.
Additional Municipal Commissioner Prajit Nair said, "The engineers, posted at the Dhole Patil Road and Vishrambag ward offices, had conducted inspections only three or four times over the past one-and-a-half months." The civic body has sought explanations from the officials, and further action will be decided based on their responses.
The inspections were introduced to identify and address civic problems, including potholes, damaged manhole covers, poorly maintained footpaths and encroachments. Around six weeks ago, Municipal Commissioner Naval Kishore Ram directed junior engineers to spend two hours every morning inspecting their respective jurisdictions, documenting civic issues and reporting them through assistant commissioners.
To monitor compliance and ensure follow-up, the PMC created a Google Sheet to record inspections and track pending works. So far, junior engineers across the city have documented 1,840 civic problems and pending works through the system. They are also expected to coordinate efforts to resolve the identified issues in their respective areas.
However, a review of ward office performance revealed that the five engineers had carried out inspections far less frequently than expected, prompting the administration to issue show-cause notices.
