DLSA gives PMC one month to properly repair Ahmednagar Road

PUNE: The District Legal Services Authority (DLSA), acting on a complaint filed by Ahmednagar Road residents, has directed the civic body to carry out road repairs and submit a report within a month.
The notice was sent to Pune Municipal Corporation on May 27. The complaint touched upon issues faced by commuters on Ahmednagar Road, such as fissures on the surface, potholes, protruding rods and uneven margins, among others.

Citizens said, thanks to sub-par roadwork, the entire stretch is a patchwork of in cement, tar and paver blocks.
“The difference in height between the new patches and the original road in Vadgaonsheri, Yerawada, Wagheshwar parking and others poses a risk, especially to two-wheelers,” a Wagholi resident said.
Another issue the citizens found is shoddy repair work around sewage chambers, causing indentations on the road.
Anuj Agarwal, an IT professional, had skid and fallen on the road just beyond Phoenix Marketcity mall, in March. “The road is very uneven — parts are concreted, others covered in tar. I got lucky as the vehicles behind me stopped quickly,” Agarwal said. “Ahmednagar Road has been laid in a haphazard manner. It’s time the authorities focused on improving the quality of road,” he said.
Another accident-prone spot is on the road outside Konarknagar Society in Vimannagar. The road has become a dirt surface, uneven with soil, stones and gravel, posing a constant risk to motorists. A local resident claimed the road has been in this state for more than a month.
Dhananjay Gaikwad, deputy engineer of PMC’s road department, said the department concerned as been instructed to repair the road. He said pipelines for the 24X7 water supply project were recently laid in the area. “The reinstatement has started,” he said.
The Association of Nagar Road Residents’ Fora recently reached out to DLSA’s Pune member secretary. “We had initially sent a pre-notice to PMC on May 15, referring to directions issued by the Bombay High Court on April 12 and 24, 2018 to repair all defects on the road before onset of monsoon. I met PMC officials on May 16. However, we had to approach DLSA due to non-action,” Qaneez Sukhrani, a member of the association, said.
Gaikwad, however, said they had started making repairs to the road well before they received the DLSA notice. It has been about a month since we started work at Gunjan Talkies junction, where the road was particularly bad. An assortment of works — re-surfacing, re-levelling of chambers and the like — has been undertaken across the stretch. All the roadwork will be completed in another 15 to 20 days,” Gaikwad said.