The Times of India             14.08.2013

Pune Municipal Corporation repairs over 2,000 potholes

PUNE: Over 2,100 potholes have been repaired in the last fortnight by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). The civic administration has claimed that pothole-related complaints have reduced and civic officials said around 370 potholes were fixed on Tuesday.

"The road department along with the ward offices has been carrying out pothole repairs since the end of July. Processes such as milling were done beforehand. New technologies such as micro surfacing have been used for the repairs," said Pramod Nirbhavane, head of road department, told TOI.

A total of 336 complaints were received by the PMC's helpline since the start of the monsoon. "The helpline would receive an average of 10 complaints per day which has gone down to three per day since a fortnight," the officials added.

Potholes have made roads risky for commuters. Several roads have been damaged due to the loosening of the asphalted material making them accident-prone. Civic activists and citizens have blamed the poor quality of roads.

Road repairs were carried out on Senapati Bapat, Ganeshkhind, Pashan, University of Pune, Bavdhan, Paud, Karve, Fergusson College and Ghole roads, Balgandharva, Shimla office, S G Barve, Ghavane and Chandni chowks, Nal stop, Shivnerinagar, and areas in Kondhwa Budruk, Kothrud and Deccan.

Meanwhile, the standing committee on Tuesday gave its approval for blacklisting contractors for poor quality of road work. The committee also decided to confiscate their deposits.

Appeal to Ganeshmandals

A few mandals have dug up roads to put up pandals for Gokulashtami and Ganeshotsav. "The civic administration has appealed to them not to dig up roads. The mandals should follow the instructions. There are other methods to set up tents and pandals which should be promoted and used," said Pramod Nirbhavane, head of the road department.