Pune: The shoddy patchwork done repeatedly to fix the city’s innumerable potholes , which citizens have long been decrying, seems to have finally caught the attention of politicians. Member of Parliament (MP) and minister of state (MoS) for civil aviation Murlidhar Mohol on Saturday held a meeting with various authorities and people’s representatives about fixing potholes on city roads , which are currently affecting lakhs of commuters. After the meeting, Shivajinagar MLA Siddharth Shirole told TOI that a permanent solution in the form of better concrete roads will only come about after the monsoon.
For now, a temporary fix has been discussed. “It has been raining continuously and heavily. The plan is to fill up these potholes with cement and level them.
Amid the rain, the cover is not expected to hold and will expose the pits in a few days. However, the plan is to do this continuously until the rain stops. We will repeat the same process every three or four days.
This will ensure that stress faced by commuters is mitigated somewhat,” said Shirole. Last week, the Pune police identified 554 potholes at 317 junctions in a two-day exercise. They had said photos of the same would be sent to the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) to take action.
Shirole added, “The potholes located at major roads and traffic junctions are the top priority to be fixed as discussed. Later, we will think about coming up with concrete roads in different areas, which can withstand pressure. For now, we will focus on immediate repairs and re-repairs.
” PMC road department head Aniruddha Pawaskar said this work had already been initiated. “The work was intensified since Saturday night. A total of 478 potholes were filled up on Saturday night, while patchwork was undertaken at 22 places.
The work went on overnight and was to continue on Sunday,” he told TOI. But citizens pointed out that the action is too little too late. “What were they doing all this time? Did they not anticipate the issue to find a solution before the monsoon? PMC had claimed its monsoon preparedness was spot on.
The fact that so many roads have dangerous potholes on them shows that the roadwork itself was not done seriously and the right mixture of materials was not used by contractors. What action does state govt intend to take against these contractors?” asked Ashish Nagpal, a Wanowrie resident. Shekhar Damle, who lives in Lohegaon near the airport, said, “What about smaller roads? Who will take care of them? Does someone have to die to make PMC and politicians react and indulge in knee-jerk reactions and blame games? This truth exposes them and shows that neither of them cares about citizens.
”.
