Paper boats for protesting: MNS draws attention to road pits
Though protests have been held even earlier, PMC has not taken any step for making the roads monsoon-ready, say protesters
Chaitraly Deshmukh-Tajane
Pune
The continuous rains have left the city roads with potholes, making it dangerous for the commuters. To draw attention towards the roads Maharashtra Navnirman Sena organised a protest at Kothrud against the Pune municipal corporation by floating paper boats in the potholes.
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MNS says that the exercise was also to alert citizens to the danger that they are exposed to. While the records claim that Pune municipal corporation spent Rs 18 crores over pothole filling, the reality seems different.
Many roads in Pune like Tilak Road, Swargate, Pashan, Kothrud, Lakshmi Road, Apte Road have been damaged due to the rains and accidents have become common. Though protests have been held even earlier, PMC has not taken any step for making the roads monsoon-ready, say protesters.
Speaking to Pune Pulse, Sainath Babar, MNS city president said, “This year, the PMC has spent as much as Rs. 18 crores for repairing potholes. However, despite spending this money, the condition of the pits remain the same and the commuters suffer. Low work quality is evident and so accidents have become common. Some commuters have lost their limbs, some have developed permanent bone issue and lives have also been lost for some. In order to attract the attention of the municipality to the problem of potholes, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena carried out an innovative movement in Kothrud by leaving paper boats in the potholes on the roads.”
He added, “We have given an ultimatum of three days to them to set things right. MNS members and volunteers have carried out area surveys in which there are dangerous pits. If the issue is not resolved, we will intensify our protests.”
The MNS Kothrud Division President Sudhir Dhawade along with Division Secretary Rajendra Vede Patil and other party members like Shailesh Joshi, Ramesh Thake, Sachin Vipra, Ganesh Shinde, Pandurang Sutar, Viraj Dakwe, Kiran Thake, Shubham Gujar and Kiran Joshi were present on this occasion.
