While it is a known fact that every development work conducted by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) comes with its fair share of complementary hardship the hapless citizens, it was the turn of residents and pedestrians of Ghole Road to discover this the hard way. They recently woke up to several massive-sized cement blocks dumped on the pavement along Ghole Road causing hindrance in walking to pedestrians leaving no or little space. Pedestrians and students from colleges in the area are claiming that the PMC has dumped the cement blocks with characteristic thoughtlessness and there seems to be no clear mandate on when they will be moved.
“The PMC has recently dumped several cement blocks on the pavement without caring for the pedestrians assuming wrongly that the footpaths are meant for dumping. The blocks have been dumped on the stretch from the Mahatma Phule museum to Burger Barn Cafe along Ghole Road,” claimed, Chetan Padwal, a regular commuter and student.
“The footpath is already narrow along this road and yet the PMC has dumped the cement blocks carelessly. I can’t understand how the civic body works. Hardship comes free to citizens with every new development work. Ghole Road is a busy stretch and is routinely stuck in traffic problems and now that the pavement has been occupied by cement blocks, how are we expected to walk?” asked Padwal.
“The corporation should immediately do something to resolve the issue of the blocked footpath so at least the pedestrian can use the pavement to walk. Students from Fergusson and other nearby colleges use the pavement to commute looking at the large number of pedestrians on this stretch the municipal body should act swiftly,” he added.
Speaking to Mirror, Ravi Pawar, assistant commissioner, Ghole Road ward office, said, “The cement blocks belong to the PMC and have been brought for the development work nearby. I am unaware of how they have been dumped. I will speak to the respective department officials and instruct them to re-position the cement blocks in a way that it doesn’t create hindrance to pedestrians or move them at the earliest.”
Source : Mirror
