PUNE: The PMC has decided to fix potholes on the main roads on priority to ensure that daily commute on busy stretches is not hampered.
The administration also restarted a hotmix plant located at Yerawada to get more material for repairs. Besides, a third-party inspection of the roads under the defect liability period (DLP) has also been started to check the status of potholes.
Road users have been complaining of poor condition of key stretches like Tilak Road, Katraj-Kondhwa Road, old Mumbai-Pune Road, Solapur Road following heavy spells of rain. Riders have said that pothole-ridden roads were slowing traffic movement, resulting in traffic snarls.
Additional municipal commissioner Kunal Khemnar said, “So far, 45 roads have been inspected by a third party in the last two days. Notices to 11 contractors have been issued for shoddy work.”
The civic activists have raised serious concerns about substandard repairs, which have led to huge potholes and worsening of condition of roads. Khemanar said that major works were taken up by the water supply and drainage departments in the last few months in various parts of the city. “We will ask the departments to fix responsibilities for reinstatement of roads,” he said.
An official from the PMC’s road development department said that hotmix material was being used to fill and repair the main roads and where the condition of the road has deteriorated for over a long stretch.
Vishal Jaju, who stays in Ravivar peth, said that the road in the city’s central areas should be repaired at the earliest. “Some patches are in a very bad shape. The administration should form teams at the local level to monitor the works,” he added.
The administration has also asked the local ward offices to take up repairs. An official said that some roads, especially smaller roads, are being maintained by the civic ward offices. “We have asked the authorities to conduct the repairs,” an official added.
