246km length of road constructed at 635 locations in rural Pune: ZP CEO

Pune: The Pune Zilla Parishad (ZP) has completed the construction of 246km length of small roads at 635 locations across 13 tehsils, including in industrial areas like Chakan, Ranjangaon, Baramati and Walachandnagar, among others.
Most of these road patches had been damaged and commuting on the same had become a major problem, said zilla parishad officials.
Ayush Prasad, chief executive officer, zilla parishad (ZP), claimed that the roads constructed were of 3.5km, 5km, and 7.5km length.
“Most of the remote villages, particularly in Bhor and Velhe tehsils, which have hilly regions are connected to the main roads. People from these villages have got access to these roads,” Prasad told TOI.
They are tarred, cement concrete, and stone-embedded roads.
Prasad said that they could complete the task due to comprehensive planning with contractors and local leaders.
“We held rounds of meetings with them and discussed logistical issues, such as providing construction materials, arranging earthmovers at the locations, among others,” Prasad said.
“Also, we had appointed a nodal officer for each tehsil to look into their issues. Because of these, we could construct the roads in a day,” Prasad added.
The cost of the project is around Rs70crore, said Prasad.
In rural Pune, roads often get damaged due to untimely repair and accumulation of water, said the zilla parishad officials.
“To tackle water accumulation issue, we have constructed cement concrete roads. Also, the hamlets that are remotely located in the hilly regions have been connected with stone-embedded roads flattened by rollers so that residents of the hamlet could ride motorcycles and four-wheelers on them,” said a senior official from the building construction department.