Commuters complain about risk, inconvenience

Pune: People passing through Parnakuti on Deccan College Road in Yerawada each day question the slow pace of concreting on the 800-metre stretch from Yerawada to Sadalbaba chowk.
With huge cement slabs and steel occupying the middle of the poorly-lit road, it seems the administration is waiting for accidents to happen. The difference in height of the concreted and other asphalted half is big enough to cause serious water-logging problems in case of rain, complain residents.
City-based activist Qaneez Sukhrani says, "There is heavy movement of vehicles on the stretch from eastern part of Pune and Ahmednagar that connects the Mumbai-Pune Road via Khadki. The work is on since last several months, but only one side of the road has been prepared. The height of the completed half is at least a foot more than the other side. Anyone not familiar with the area can fall off the road and get hurt. Besides, I fear the footpath to be laid will be a foot lower, which is a great risk to pedestrians."
Describing her experience of using the road, regular commuter Dipti Chaubal says, "There is chaos on the road because of the ongoing road work. Usually, buses don't stop at their designated stop which is on the concreted half. As a result, those wishing to board the bus stand on the edge of the road. People even run across the half asphalt road which is currently bearing the brunt of double traffic."
Vijay Shinde, executive engineer (roads) in Pune Municipal Corporation, however, justifies the ongoing work. "The increased height of the road is as per the design. We were waiting for the curing period of the concreted half to end to start work on the other side of the road. To avoid inconvenience to commuters, we even made ramps and have suggested trimming of tree branches lining the stretch," said Shinde.
Area corporator Meena Pardeshi sees concreting as the logical way of solving the frequent problem of pothole-filled roads. "Selection of roads for concreting is done by the civic body and I hardly had a role in it. Nobody has complained to me about the ongoing work so far. If people are facing hardships, they should approache the contractor. Lanes around my residence are also being concreted, so there is no big deal about it. Bitumen roads break easily whereas concrete roads last long," said Pardeshi.