Commuters frown on bumpy Pune-Satara highway stretch

PUNE: Dodging potholes on the pockmarked Satara highway has become more challenging for motorists than dribbling through a Catenaccio defence on a soccer pitch, triggering demand to suspend the toll collection on the stretch till it became motorable.
Motorists claimed that the never-ending work on various bridges and shoddy maintenance of the highway were the primary reasons for the poor road condition between Pune and Satara.Many commuters stressed that skirting potholes on the stretch was as difficult as scoring against a soccer team following the Catenaccio tactics in football.

Catenaccio means “door-bolt” in Italian. It implies a highly effective backline, focused on nullifying opponents' attacks to score a goal.
Pavanjit Mane, a Satara resident working in Pune, said, “I use this stretch of National Highway (NH) 4 regularly. We drive extremely cautiously to avoid potholes. If a vehicle falls in a pothole, its chassis scrapes the ground. Not only our lives are at stake, but also the wellness of our vehicles.”
According to Mane, over 500 lives have been lost along the NH4 over the past five years. “Bad road design, incomplete work, diversions and authorities’ negligence contributed to them. We decided to launch an online petition in September demanding improvement in the road condition. In a short time, we gathered nearly 15,000 signatures. We also held meetings with former and current MPs.”
He said, “We recently submitted a letter demanding revocation of toll to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) as well as Pune and Satara collectors. Ironically, the tyre of my car burst when I was returning to Pune after handing over the letter to the NHAI authorities in Satara.”
Prasanna Revankar, a city-based businessman who travels regularly to his factory at Khed Shivapur, said, “The construction of the bridge before the Khed Shivapur toll plaza has been on hold from August because of rain, compelling all vehicles to take the potholed service road. Ditto near the under-construction bridge close to Hotel Natraj. I have a degeneration of my spine. No matter how much treatment I take, it does not get better because of the jerks.”
Another regular traveller Amol Kachare said, “The road towards Satara has become a huge nuisance. The potholes are huge and resemble craters, especially along the diversion road created for construction of an underpass just beyond Khed Shivapur toll plaza and near the bridge across the Nira. The travel time has nearly doubled.”
Samaiirah from Safe Road Foundation stated that the highway had become a death trap. “I travel between Pune and Satara on a regular basis. I cannot understand how the condition of a highway can be so bad,” she said.
General manager of NHAI, Pune, S D Chitnis said, “The work across the incomplete sections has resumed after the rain stopped. The diversions made for the construction of the underpass near Khed Shivapur would be discontinued soon because the construction would work be over in 10 days. The road condition is poor in some stretches on the main highway as well. I personally visited the spots on Tuesday. Work on repairs is under way.”
Claiming that he was aware of the issues regarding the Pune-Satara highway, Union minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari, on a visit to the city on Friday, said 90% of the work was done and the rest would be completed soon.