Pune: In a decisive move to address the worsening condition of city roads ahead of the monsoon, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has set a firm deadline of June 7 for the completion of all ongoing road repair and resurfacing work. Payments to contractors will be released only after the monsoon season, depending on the durability of their work, officials confirmed.
Widespread road excavation for utility works and recent unseasonal rains have left many roads riddled with potholes, causing major inconvenience to Pune residents. Taking stock of the situation, Additional Municipal Commissioner Omprakash Diwate chaired a review meeting with top officials from the Road, Drainage, Water Supply, and Electrical departments.
Present at the meeting were Chief Engineers Aniruddha Pawaskar (Road Department), Jagdish Khanore (Drainage Department), Manisha Shekatkar (Electrical Department), and Nandkishor Jagtap (Water Supply Department), among others.
According to officials, most departments have completed excavation work, and road resurfacing is currently underway. However, several areas are still awaiting restoration. Diwate has directed departments to deploy maximum manpower to ensure all repairs are completed within the stipulated deadline.
Highlighting repeated issues with poor-quality repair work, Diwate emphasized that contractors will not receive payment immediately upon project completion. Instead, PMC will withhold payments until after the monsoon, which will serve as a testing period for the roads’ durability. If roads develop issues during the rains, contractors will be held accountable and required to rework the repairs at their own cost.
“This approach will improve work quality and ensure accountability,” said Road Department Head Aniruddha Pawaskar, quoting Diwate’s instructions.
PMC has also restricted private companies from conducting any new road excavation, as the deadline for such permissions has already lapsed.
An inset presented during the meeting revealed that some critical works by the Water Supply, Drainage, and Electrical departments are still incomplete. Officials cited delays in obtaining No Objection Certificates (NOCs) from the traffic police as a primary reason.
With the monsoon rains already beginning in parts of the city, Diwate has strictly instructed that no work should remain pending beyond June 7 and departments must ensure full compliance.
As residents continue to navigate pothole-ridden roads, the PMC’s latest measures aim to provide much-needed relief and uphold better standards of civic infrastructure.
