Tamhini ghat likely to be out of bounds this monsoon

PUNE: Tourists are likely to miss the monsoon trip to Tamhini ghat and its surrounding areas, this year, due to the ongoing road construction work from Paud till the ghat.


The work has interrupted the daily routine of residents of

Mulshi

tehsil as they struggle to drive their vehicles on the dug-up stretch.

The tehsil administration blamed the contractor and Public Works Department (PWD) for not completing the work before monsoon. “The condition of the stretch is dangerous as the contractor has not constructed any lane properly. Debris, soil and pebbles are scattered on the road. There are no street lights as well. It is risky for commuters to ply on the stretch at night,” tehsildar Abhay Chavan of Mulshi tehsil told TOI.



The residents have already made several complaints regarding the slow progress of work to the district administration, but in vain.

“We had already followed up with the PWD, but they did not take enough efforts to finish the work within the deadline. This is the main road of the tehsil and villagers will struggle to reach Pune and other places, particularly during monsoon,” a senior revenue official of the Paud tehsil said.

For Puneites, this 50km thoroughfare is a ‘short cut’ which provides access to the

Konkan

region. Otherwise, they will have to take a long detour via the Mumbai-Pune expressway.

“We will soon hold a meeting with the PWD and other departments. If required, we may issue a public notice advising people to not travel on this part, for their safety,” Chavan said. He recently conducted a preliminary survey of the road.

Officials from the Paud tehsil said the contractor should have finished the cement concretization of one lane by now. “It was total mismanagement on the part of the concerned agency as well as the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation Limited (MSRDCL), which is the monitoring authority,” officials from the Paud tehsil said.

“The agency did not deploy adequate manpower to expedite the work. Had MSRDCL taken a regular report, they would have at least finished the work of one lane,” a resident, who did not wish to be named, said.

Former MLA Sharad Dhamale blamed the lackadaisical attitude of the district administration and PWD. “We have given several memorandums to them and protested too, but they did not pay heed to our demand,” he said.

Superintendent engineer Prashant Auti of MSRDCL refused to comment on the matter.