Pune: Repairing Ganeshkhind Road is challenging ahead of President’s visit on September 3; PMRDA shirks responsibility
Pune: President Droupadi Murmu’s Pune visit is a few days away. However, Ganeshkhind Road is pothole-ridden and it is a challenge to repair it.
A multi-storey flyover and the Metro railway route work is in progress on the road. Therefore, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) wrote a letter to the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) to repair the road.
However, the work has been delayed by the PMRDA. Therefore, the PMC has started filling potholes here. Many roads in the city are in a bad condition due to incessant rains and commuters are facing issues, including frequent congestion.
Traffic snarls are common on Ganeshkhind Road due to the Metro work. The PMC, the PMRDA and the Traffic Police held many joint meetings to ease jams but there has been no noticeable improvement.
President Murmu will visit the city on September 3. Many top officers will also be in Pune during her visit. Therefore, the civic body has initiated repair of the road. Though it is the responsibility of the PMRDA, the PMC has decided to repair the road and later, recover its expenses from the PMRDA.
Hot-mix to be bought from a private contractor
The PMC has a hot-mix plant in Yerwada. However, it is shutting frequently during the rainy season. The plant cannot be run with its full capacity. Therefore, there is a shortage of hot-mix (gravel and hot tar mixture) and road repair has slowed down. Hence, the civic body has decided to buy hot-mix from private units. This was disclosed by Road Department Head Aniruddha Pawaskar.
He said, “We have corresponded with the PMRDA ahead of the President’s visit to the city. The PMC has started repairing the road. It will be repaired. Expenses incurred on the work will be recovered from the PMRDA.”
Road repair work done
*432 potholes have been filled from August 26
*1,334 tonnes of tar has been used
*1,981 sq m road area has been repaired
*36 chambers have been fixed
