Pune : PMC conducts ‘walking survey’ on road conditions; Citizens raise concerns
Pune : PMC conducts ‘walking survey’ on road conditions; Citizens raise concerns ( Representational Image )
The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) conducted a ‘walking survey’ to identify road conditions in Pune. It was carried out by 41 junior engineers of the Road Department. However, some citizens claim that this survey is only on paper and that the civic body is deceiving everyone because the road department withholds data from the public.
Speaking to Pune Pulse, Sahebrao Dandge, Superintendent Engineer, PMC Road Department, said “This survey was to identify the problems citizens face while commuting on roads, while walking and more. Such issues are better known when inspected on foot rather than on a vehicle. So, this walking survey was conducted by the road department engineers to know the issues of citizens on roads at micro level. By knowing the problems, the PMC can rectify all the issues whether they are related to Road Department & other departments. This survey was being held for the past 1 to 1.5 months from our engineers who visited various areas mainly in peak hours such as in morning time, inspect & record the issues faced by citizens.”
As per further data & information shared by Sahebrao Dandge, the walking survey was conducted of 12 m width roads in Pune. The total roads in Pune are 378 out of which 356 roads were surveyed by walking by the PMC. Total no of faulty speed breakers is 627. Total raised pedestrian crossings are 228.
The walking survey was done on roads like Sinhagad Road – Rajaram Chowk to Fun Time Theatre, Solapur Road – Magarpatta Bridge to Ramtekdi, Tilak Road – Alka Talkies to Shivaji Road, Lakshmi Road – Alka Talkies to Sonya Maruti Road, Kalepadal Road – Kalepadal Underpass to Dhere Company, North Main Road – Petrol Pump Chowk to Tadigutta Chowk, Bavdhan Main Road – Shinde Petrol Pump to Ramnagar, Ganeshkhind Road – Savitribai Phule Pune University to Rajiv Gandhi Bridge and many more.
However, citizens have questioned about the transparency & authenticity of the survey.
Speaking to Pune Pulse Vivek Welankar, President, Sajag Nagarik Manch, said “The report of the survey must be uploaded on the PMC’s website. Citizens do not only believe the surveys conducted. Hence, the report of the survey must be put on the website, so people can verify. For example, how many speedbreakers are non-standard, how many are standard, how many are in reparable condition etc must be made public by putting on the PMC website. I can say this for sure that there is no speedbreaker in Pune city which is standard & according to IRC guidelines & non-reparable. Hence, if the survey work is genuinely done, then there must not be any problem uploading the report on the website. Along with citizens, the senior officials of the PMC can also understand whether the work done by the PMC staff is genuine or not. People can easily identify if a work is done or not. So, out of all Punekars, even if 2,000-odd citizens give their response to the survey report, the entire scenario would be clear. Hence, the PMC must upload the entire survey report on its website.”
An active Pune citizen said that roads are not getting any better, despite PMC collecting data and conducting surveys on them. Why were the 41 engineers not visible on the roads if they conducted a walking survey? 2018 saw the formation of a Non Motorized Transport (NMT) Committee during Kunal Kumar’s tenure as municipal commissioner. He participated fully in meetings, resolving problems. Still, not a single committee meeting has taken place since his transfer.
Another active Pune citizen said that this is merely a publicity stunt. Since people regularly pay taxes, they ought to have better roads.
Shreyas Vange
