Pune: Residents are frustrated with the Pune Cantonment Board 's (PCB) delayed response in floating tenders to repair roads that have been left pockmarked following heavy rain this monsoon . "We have suffered a lot while negotiating through the potholed cantonment roads this season. The board should have done a better job before the monsoon.
Now they have decided to repair the roads," said activist and Ghorpadi resident Sanjay Kawade, who staged protests last week. "Why couldn't they initiate the work before the monsoon?" Akash Kale, a resident of Pune Camp, pointed out that PCB may claim roads were better three months ago. "However, that was never the case.
And this argument stands illogical when they knew some stretches would develop potholes during the monsoon," Kale said. TOI has highlighted the problem in several reports in the recent past. However, PCB is yet to finalise a contractor or agency to initiate work on the ground.
A senior PCB official said that a tender worth Rs 3 crore was floated last week for repair work and laying bitumen patches on some road stretches. "It will take two weeks to complete the procedure and actual work will start in the first week of Oct," the official said. The Cantonment manages 48km of roads within its limit, while 22km is under the Military Engineering Services (MES) and 5km under the state Public Works Department (PWD).
This year, roads in the cantonment and military zones are particularly bad. "We have shortlisted main roads that have several potholes. Work on Canning Road between Lullanagar and Station Workshop, Kahun Road, Coyaji Road, and Prince of Wales roads are the first priority," said another official from PCB's engineering section.
PCB also passed the blame, and said PWD has failed to maintain the Golibar Maidan junction stretch as the quality of patchwork was substandard. "We will also cover this stretch and submit a bill to PWD because their work has not made a difference on the ground. Potholes and rough patches still exist," another official said.
Noting that the board did not have any contingency plans in place for road repair and maintenance work before monsoon, residents blamed PCB's inefficiency. "They could not even do basic repair work. After we protested, they filled up potholes with murum.
That did not last even for 48 hours. Just filling up potholes without proper rolling is not effective," said Ghorpadi resident Lucy Anthony. "PCB should have allocated a special budget for monsoon road repairs.
We have suffered throughout the season. It was a nightmare to travel on several roads in the cantonment limit. PCB should pay attention to the quality of its work.
Substandard work will once again make commute tough for us," she added..
