Bad Roads In Pune : High Court Asks PMC And State Govt To Submit Affidavit In Three Weeks

Pune 19th August 2023: The Bombay High Court has asked the Pune Municipal Corporation and the State Government’s Department of Urban Development to file an affidavit in a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed over bad condition of roads in Pune. The High Court has asked them to submit in the affidavit as to what steps have been taken to ensure that the civic body follows the court directions.

The petitioner has claimed that the Municipal Corporation has failed to discharge its mandatory/statutory duty cast on it under the provisions of Maharashtra Municipal Corporation Act, 1949 and it has also failed to take appropriate and adequate steps to ensure compliance of the directions issued by the court in the matter. The petition filed by activist Qaneez Sukhrani claims that a total of 114 areas in the jurisdiction of PMC were reported as pothole prone areas in 2022 while 113 areas were reported in 2023. This makes it clear that the civic body has failed to reduce the pothole prone areas in the city which indicates that the municipal corporation has done nothing substantial for the maintenance and proper upkeep of the roads.

It is also noted in the PIL that the PMC had formed an advisory committee for technical guidance in 2013, a report was also submitted for road development and maintenance in 2016 and the court directions also came in 2018. However, despite all this the civic body has failed to act on the issue.