Bumpy ride on bad roads bugs Kirkitwadi residents

PUNE: Irked by pathetic condition of roads and daily traffic snarls, residents of Kirkitwadi and surrounding areas have appealed to people going to Sinhagad fort and Khadakwasla dam on weekends to spare them the trouble, pointing out that jam-packed roads had become a nightmare for them.
Thousands of people travel to Khadakwasla, Sinhagad fort and Panshet dam on Saturdays and Sundays via Kirkitwadi.
But the rush increases manifold during the monsoon.
The residents said they have highlighted the pathetic road condition in various fora, including social media, and have also approached the Public Works Department (PWD) to carry out urgent road repairs but to little avail.
Narendra Hagawane, a local resident, said that the residents do not want to play a spoilsport but they issued the appeal to draw the attention of the authorities to the hardships faced by them.
He said that the local people have been raising the demand for the last two years to repair the road but nothing has been done so far.
“This year, the condition of road has worsened. Local people cannot step out on weekends because of the huge rush. Traffic moves slowly and the road remains chock-a-block throughout the day,” he said.
A stretch of about 1.5 km from the Central Water and Power Research Station (CWPRS) towards Kirkitwadi is in very bad shape, the residents said.
Sanjay Mule, who often travels through the road, said that the population in Kirkitwadi and surrounding area has increased significantly in the past few years.
“I have not noticed any repairs, road strengthening or road widening work on the stretch,” he said.
Utsav Prakash Pawar, another resident, said that over 20,000 people travel on weekends and the crumbling infrastructure has led to major problems.
Life has become miserable for people staying in Kirkitwadi and Kolhewadi areas, he said.
Along with huge potholes, long queues of vehicles and unending traffic jams have become a routine, causing inconvenience for people living in nearby areas.
Meanwhile, taking cognizance of the problem, local MP Supriya Sule has approached state PWD minister Chandrakant Patil.
Sule said on her Twitter handle that a letter has been submitted to Patil on July 16 to carry out road repairs, but no action has been taken yet.