Deadline over,road-diggers still send traffic into a spin

A fortnight ago,the PMC had asked all contractors to stop all digging work by May 15. Additional Municipal Commissioner M S Devanikar had directed agencies that had dug up roads to lay utility cables,water lines,drainage or electricity cables to complete the work by the deadline. By May 20,all contractors have been asked to clear the debris on the road,but it doesn’t look if this deadline will be met either.

On Paud Road,there are deep trenches for laying utility cables. Several JCBs were at work on Sunday. Patil Constructions is laying concrete road under the JNNURM.

“We got the PMC circular telling us that we are not allowed to dig traffic-line roads from May 15 . Accordingly,we are not disturbing the traffic,” said R S Shinde,general manager,Patil Constructions. However,part of the Paud Road has been cut off for traffic because of road repair. “We will complete this stretch in the next few days and then start work on the other part of the road. We can continue till the rains begin. If in the next 10 days there are no rains,then our plans will change,” he said.

On Monday,he said that PMC officials were expected to visit the site to discuss immediate plans. Shinde admitted that there had been several complaints from local residents. “Last week there was a dharna by corporators,NGOs and activists. They were saying we are digging everywhere and that the public is complaining about traffic jams. But these things happen if there is a road to be built,” Shinde said.

On Baner Road,only one half is concrete; the other half is a bitumen-layered road,which the contractors hope to convert to concrete within a month. “After we finish the concrete work on the stretch,we will start digging the bitumen layer on the other side. We can continue working till the rains actually begin. We could have finished our work much earlier,but we have to ensure the traffic is not disrupted,” said Kalyan Naik,project supervisor,A R constructions,that is laying concrete on a part of Baner Road.

The concrete layer was completed many months ago on Sinhagad Road,but the PMC began digging up the road was once again around two months back to lay utility cables.

The speed of the work has irked many establishments along the road.

“They work for a day,then stop for four days. I have suffered a 30 per cent loss since work began,” said Mukesh Shah,proprietor,Mamta Traders,a grocery shop. “If they work at a faster pace,they can finish it before the monsoons,but the pace has been slow,” said Ranjan Raut,an employee at Rajendra Hardware store.

Vinay Deshpande of the PMC’s JNNURM cell said that if digging work is still going on,the PMC would issue a notice to the contractors to stop work till the monsoons.

“We have instructed the contractors to complete work on the side of the roads and finish laying utility cables,” Deshpande said. But activists are not convinced. They say that PMC is rarely able to enforce its deadlines because of a lack of planning. “Setting of deadlines is just a posturing on behalf of the PMC to answer critics,” said Prashant Inamdar,Pedestrian First. “Every year,monsoons occur at around the same time,but still they are not able to plan in advance. Most of the deadlines set are adhoc,” he said.

Quickfix job and an eyesore
Like all civic-conscious citizens,the Gennext is also not happy with the digging work. Tarannum Mukhtar Sayyed,an IT professional from Hadapsar,says,“Everywhere you go,you see roads dug up. It takes months for covering it with asphalt and it is also not done properly. What you get is a quickfix job that wears away with the first monsoon showers,” she says.

Neela Krishnamurthy,another IT professional,says,“Pits dug up for cables are left unattended. During monsoon,these pits get filled with water and pose a threat to commuters.”

A consultant with an IT company,Prabhu R Kesavrajan,says the quality of roads is bad. “There should be cement roads everywhere as they have a longer life,” he says.

Kanchan Phadnavis,a student of Fergusson College,says the potholes are a nightmare for motorists.

“The civic authorities use poor quality material that wear off during heavy rain,exposing the quality of roads,” says IT professionals Abhijit Mahale and Sumeet B. “Driving becomes difficult as potholes spring up with the first monsoon showers,” adds Sumeet. “Wide,cemented roads,cane be found only on some stretches like Sinhagad Road,” they add.ENS