The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has come under fire, for the third time now, by the Bombay High Court (HC), for failing to fulfil its constitutional duty under Article 21, which guarantees the fundamental right to life and personal liberty, as well as for its lack of response to multiple directives issued in previous public interest litigations (PILs) regarding the pathetic state of roads in Pune.
The hard-hitting order, issued on 6 February 2025, is based on replies received through 16 Right to Information (RTI) applications, filed by noted Pune-based RTI activist, Qaneez Sukhrani between 2022 and 2023. Ms Sukhrani is also one of the two petitioners.
Highlighting several critical lapses in road maintenance and grievance redressal mechanisms, the Bombay HC pointed out that the PMC has failed to establish a structured mechanism for citizens to file complaints regarding the poor condition of roads, thereby preventing a time-bound redressal process.
The HC has directed the road development and road maintenance committee (RDRMC), which was reconstituted for overseeing Pune’s road infrastructure, to compulsorily continue to function regularly. The PMC had ignored the court’s earlier directives regarding this. The court has granted liberty to the petitioners to re-approach the court in case of serious breaches and unresolved grievances regarding road maintenance.
Ordering third-party audits, the HC has mandated that the PMC must seek quality work assessment from institutions like the College of Engineering Pune (COEP) and Engineers India Ltd (EIL).
Taking a stern view of the fact that the PMC has defied rulings of the earlier two PILs, because of which the present PIL had to be filed, the HC has slammed the civic body for ignoring the suggestions and recommendations outlined in the state technical advisory committee (STAC) Report and the 2016 RDRMC Report, which aimed to improve road conditions in Pune.
States Ms Sukhrani, one of the two petitioners, “The neglect of PMC is even more alarming given that our earlier PILs led to the High Court providing 100 actionable recommendations for the repair, maintenance, and construction of roads, streets, and lanes within the city. These expert bodies include the STAC, formed in 2013, and the road development and road maintenance committee (RDRMC), established in 2016. The committee submitted a comprehensive report outlining 130 detailed action points that the PMC could implement to enhance road conditions. A STAC committee too was established but recommendations of all these committees were not implemented.”
The PMC, rues Ms Sukhrani, “continued to rely on ad hoc and unscientific methods for road repairs and maintenance. This negligence has forced Pune’s citizens to endure perpetually hazardous roads and witness the annual squandering of public resources. Roads are poorly patched, potholes are superficially filled, and the city’s infrastructure remains in a chronic state of disrepair—resulting in nothing more than a shoddy, makeshift patchwork.”
Recalling her tryst with RTI, Ms Sukhrani rues the casual approach of the civic body. She stated that “for most applications there was silence, so first appeals were filed. After that, I started getting different dates for hearings. It seems that different engineers handle different subjects in the road department. So I spoke to the road department superintending engineer who gave me one date when all the PIOs and AAs were present. The hearing stretched to three hours after which I got the information, to produce as documentary evidence in the court.”
The repeated failures of the PMC to address these long-standing issues have raised concerns among citizens and activists alike. With mounting pressure from the petitioners and legal bodies, the PMC may soon be compelled to take corrective measures to ensure better infrastructure and accountability in road maintenance across the city. Hopefully!
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(Vinita Deshmukh is consulting editor of Moneylife. She is also the convener of the Pune Metro Jagruti Abhiyaan. She is the recipient of prestigious awards like the Statesman Award for Rural Reporting, which she won twice in 1998 and 2005 and the Chameli Devi Jain Award for outstanding media person for her investigation series on Dow Chemicals. She co-authored the book "To The Last Bullet - The Inspiring Story of A Braveheart - Ashok Kamte" with Vinita Kamte and is the author of "The Mighty Fall".)