Pothole-Free Roads vs. 550 km of Digging: Pune Faces Contradictory Claims

Pune, 19th September 2025: Even as the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) gears up to make city roads pothole-free by the end of November, another major challenge looms large—extensive road digging for a new police CCTV project. The project will require digging across 550 kilometers of Pune’s roads, raising questions about how the civic body plans to meet its pothole-free promise.

The city police are set to install new CCTV cameras for strengthening security. For this, nearly 1,600 kilometers of roads will be dug across the state, of which 550 kilometers fall within Pune. Permission has already been granted to dig 28 kilometers in the Peth areas before the monsoon ends.

Under usual practice, departments that dig up roads must pay the civic body ₹5,500 per running meter for repairs—a fee charged even to government entities like MSEDCL, MNGL, and BSNL. The PMC uses this fund to restore the roads. However, in the case of the CCTV project, the Home Department has directed that PMC itself bear the responsibility of repairs once the contractor completes digging, leaving the civic body in a bind.

Officials admit that the city’s roads are already in poor condition, with crores being spent on resurfacing them. Once the digging begins on a large scale, many of these freshly repaired stretches will be cut open again, negating the PMC’s “pothole-free” campaign.

A Costly Burden
PMC estimates suggest that repairing roads after the CCTV work could cost anywhere between ₹400 and ₹500 crore. Despite being aware of this massive financial burden, the civic administration has allowed the digging to proceed, citing orders from the Home Department.

To mitigate the fallout, Municipal Commissioner Naval Kishore Ram has instructed the Road Department to prepare a proposal demanding that the state government bear the digging fee. The proposal will soon be sent to the Home Department and the Urban Development Department.

For now, however, Puneites are left wondering whether the city will ever see pothole-free roads, or if fresh trenches will undo the crores spent on road repairs.