Pune: PMC Commissioner Pulls Up Junior Engineers, Orders More Field Visits to Improve Civic Services
Pune, 5th August 2026: Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) Commissioner Naval Kishore Ram has expressed strong displeasure over the functioning of junior engineers and zonal officials, directing them to spend more time in the field instead of remaining confined to their offices.
“Junior engineers and officers should inspect works on the ground instead of working only from their offices. Resolving citizens’ complaints and ensuring the quality of civic works must remain their top priority”, he said.
The commissioner said inadequate field supervision is adversely affecting the quality of roads, water supply, drainage, and other civic infrastructure projects, leading to a rise in public complaints. He instructed officials to conduct regular on-site inspections and ensure timely resolution of civic issues.
Junior engineers are responsible for inspecting roads, footpaths, drains, public buildings, reserved plots, and other municipal properties within their jurisdictions. Their duties also include reporting unauthorized constructions, potholes, encroachments, misuse of civic assets, and coordinating with relevant departments to ensure prompt corrective action.
In addition, they are tasked with monitoring ongoing development works, verifying measurements, ensuring quality control, supervising contractors, and responding to complaints received from citizens.
However, according to the PMC administration, several junior engineers have been spending more time in their offices instead of carrying out field inspections. As a result, issues such as potholes, damaged drainage covers, clogged drains, malfunctioning streetlights, and incomplete civic works often go unnoticed until they become serious problems.
The lack of timely inspections and repairs not only increases the risk of accidents and traffic congestion but also causes inconvenience to citizens. Delays in addressing minor defects often result in higher repair costs, leading to financial losses for the civic body.
To improve accountability and service delivery, Commissioner Ram directed every junior engineer to devote more time to field inspections, monitor the quality of works being executed by contractors, and verify citizens’ complaints on-site instead of relying solely on office records.
He stressed that resolving civic issues proactively through regular field visits should be the primary responsibility of junior engineers and instructed them to actively patrol their respective jurisdictions rather than remain seated in their offices.
