Pune: Come monsoon and complaints about potholes and poor repairs on city roads habitually reach a crescendo. Systems put in place by the civic administration seem to falter, and citizens are left struggling to complete even the most basic commutes.Even now, Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) is getting at least 15 complaints a day pertaining to road issues via online modes as well as phone calls, officials told TOI. The civic body had years ago started a pothole helpline to facilitate repair works, but its efficacy on ground is yet to manifest.According to many activists, civic officials lack coordination and willingness to complete work on time, and their tendering system for pothole repairs has also been criticised. “There are blatant violation of Indian Roads Congress (IRC) norms by many contractors during road repairs and digging. It leads to poor quality of roads that get easily damaged during the rainy season,” said Vivek Velankar of Sajag Nagrik Manch, a citizens’ group.Wadgaonsheri resident Rajan Vishwanath said commuters pray for relief from waterlogging issues this year. “PMC has been claiming it has improved road repairs, but this is not reflecting in reality. Citizens need pothole-free roads during the rainy season,” he said.Civic officials explained that city roads are typically dug up by telecom operators, electricity service providers, cellphone operators, internet service providers and piped gas companies to lay cables or pipes. PMC offers permission to 26 such firms and operators for digging work, and takes restoration charges of around Rs12,000 per metre to repair roads in the aftermath.For the financial year 2026-27, PMC has given permission to dig up around 75,000 metres of roads, and collected around Rs50 crore as restoration charges from private firms as well as govt agencies.Besides this, said officials, contractors are expected to restore roads to their original condition if any issue arises within the defect liability period, or incur a fine. Aimed at keeping a check on quality of road works, a third party was roped in last year to inspect roads across the city. Based on its findings, 33 contractors were fined nearly Rs50 lakh for poor-quality work under the defect liability period.For now, civic officials said that instructions have been given to ward offices to expedite repairs of dug-up roads under their jurisdiction to ensure minimal hardships to citizens. Rajesh Bankar, head of PMC’s road department, told TOI, “PMC has streamlined the system for road repairs. Small roads are being repaired by ward offices, while bigger roads are repaired by the main office. The arrangement has been made for better management of maintenance.”
