News Detail

• If roads in the city are wearing off faster than they should, potholes appear after the first few showers and there is heavy waterlogging, blame it on the lack of a clear policy to build better and longer-lasting roads.The high-powered standing technical advisory committee, set up in 2007 by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), has not met since February 2009. Its task was to frame a policy that would improve the quality of roads.Additional city engineer Pramod Nirbhavane said the civic body had not called a meeting of the panel for the past three years. "However, most suggestions made by the committee in 2007 have been implemented. It has helped improve the quality of roads in the city," he added.

• The nine-member panel, headed by a former principal secretary of the Public Works Department was expected to study the organisational and management aspects of road construction, suggest technical measures to improve the quality of design, specifications and construction of roads and their upkeep.

• When roads did not improve even after the appointment of the committee in 2007, Puneite Madhav Ghate, a retired judge of the small cause court, filed a public interest litigation in the Bombay high court in 2008. The petition wanted the civic body to construct roads based on specific guidelines.

• The court then directed the civic body to frame a policy for better roads. In April 2008, the high court ruling directed Ghate to suggest experts for the committee, and fix the guidelines. Accordingly, S N Mane and V A Kelkar joined the panel.

• "However, hardly any work has been done to frame the policy. Even the nine-month deadline set by the high court in April 2008 to form the policy has not been followed," Ghate said. A policy and guidelines are a must as potholes sprang up even during the 2011 monsoon, he added.

• Some committee members said the lack of progress was demoralizing. "There is no point in working for an advisory committee if it lacks sincerity," Mane, a retired senior officer of Border Roads Organisation (BRO), said. He may disassociate himself from the committee, he added.

• "There are many manuals for construction of good quality roads. A policy related to Pune's roads can be formed after consulting these manuals. Only a few changes will be required to suit the city's needs and a policy can be formed in a couple of meetings," Mane said.

• Civic activists want the committee to meet regularly. "Road quality suffers because they are not constructed scientifically, according to a policy framed for the city's needs," Vishwas Sahastrabuddhe, Sajag Nagrik Manch activist, said.

• "The policy should not just curb potholes. Other problems like improper speed breakers and wrong zebra crossings that affect people should also be included. A policy for standardising roads in the city is required," Vivek Velankar, president of Sajag Nagrik Manch, said.

• Poor quality roads were because of corruption, Maj Gen S C N Jatar (retd), founder of Nagarik Chetana Manch, said. "Rules and a policy should prescribe steps for the tender process to be followed properly. It will reduce corruption and help improve quality of roads," he added.

• Nirbhavane said the committee would be revamped. "I have begun contacting the experts and we will organise a meeting soon. Some new experts can be included. The process of framing the policy will be speeded up," he added.

Source