45 minutes of first rain floods busy roads & strands citizens

Pune: Roads across the city that were dug up for laying pipelines or are being widened or resurfaced were completely waterlogged leaving a narrow high ground for vehicle users after Friday’s heavy rain for 45 minutes.
Traffic crawled single file leading to snarls on many arterial roads in Baner, Balewadi, Pune station, Karve Road, Ghole Road, Sinhagad Road.In many other places, vehicles waited for long minutes after rainwater blocked two-thirds of the carriageway.
Citizens said incomplete road works and shoddy repairs are going to worsen commuting this monsoon. All road works had a deadline for Friday.
Civic officials who said blocked storm water channels caused the waterlogging promised to clean them again. “The first rain carries garbage to these channels. We will clean the waste to avoid further choking,” an official added.
Sanket Shitole, a resident of Karve Road, said most chowks on this busy road were submerged by rainwater on Friday. “Water accumulated because pre-monsoon road works were not completed within the deadline. The administration must revisit these chronic water stagnation spots,” he added.
Vijay Kachi, who recently travelled on Ghole Road, said the resurfacing was shoddy. The smooth road is now unmotorable due to uneven levels and gravel, and the resurfacing can break down easily after a few spells of rain.
PMC authorities said that barring water and drainage projects no new permission for digging has been given. All resurfacing will be done in the next week. About 35km of resurfacing has been done in the last few weeks, they said.
V G Kulkarni, head of PMC’s road department, said works related to the 24X7 water supply project and drainage lines are underway in some locations. “We have deployed vehicles to carry out road repairs during the monsoon. They are equipped with material to repair potholes and take up resurfacing,” he added.
Vikram Gaikwad, an activist from Ambegaon area, said poor quality of road repairs is not confined to the city’s core areas. Many roads in the fringes are in a bad state and needed repairs before the monsoon.
“The PMC completes road works in a haste before the rains but there is no quality and such roads do not last causing hardships to road users,” he added.