Citizens' frustration is mounting as Pune's roads remain in a perpetual state of disrepair. Mangaldas Road near Nowrosjee Wadia College is a prime example. Here, commuters face severe traffic snarls daily, and accidents due to the ongoing repair work by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) have skyrocketed. Chaitanya Dandekar, who was involved in an accident on Thursday, lamented, "I was heading home when my bike slipped on the road. I fell and injured my leg."
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Moreover, it has come to light that the repair work was stalled for several days due to insufficient funds. Reportedly, the drainage department of the municipal corporation initially excavated the road in February to install drainage pipelines. The task of covering it up was assigned to a contractor, who covered the dug-up section with a layer of tar. However, after the first rains last month, the use of substandard materials and negligent repair efforts were exposed, causing inconvenience and potential hazards to commuters. Additionally, after the announcement of the demolition of the Sadhu Vaswani flyover, traffic flow on the road increased significantly.
Megha Lavan, a road engineer at PMC, told The Free Press Journal, "Initially, the dug-up stretch (330 meters) was temporarily repaired due to budgetary constraints. We did not have sufficient funds at the time, so the road was restored with tar. Now, with the approved budget and tender, we are upgrading the road to a concrete surface. We are doing our utmost to complete the work as promptly as possible. However, we still require at least 15 days to finish."
Meanwhile, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has blamed the civic body for failing to complete the work before the monsoon season arrived. Amit Mhaske, president of the Pune City youth wing of AAP, said, "Around ₹350 crore were sanctioned to maintain the drainage and sewage lines across Pune. However, PMC failed to do so. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) consistently provides weather updates, and it was imperative that the work should have been completed before June, with proper prior planning."
