Pune: The civic body on Monday issued tender notices for road concreting work of Rs 1 crore even as the municipal commissioner’s office had instructed against concrete cover to roads less than 12m wide.
Civic activists questioned if the officials have checked the municipal commissioner’s circular, detailing the road concreting policy to prevent wasteful expenditure in the backdrop of the 24x7 water supply project. The ward official concerned vowed a rethink on the tenders when TOI drew his attention to the policy.
The office of municipal commissioner Kunal Kumar on Monday issued a circular stating that roads less than 12m wide would not be concreted for the next three years.
Defining the policy to construct concrete thoroughfares, the circular aims to curb wastage of public money on road concreting against the backdrop of the 24X7 water supply project, for which roads, including those already concreted, would be dug up. It states that works should be undertaken keeping in mind the likely road digging for the water supply project.
On Monday, tenders were issued for concreting roads in different parts of the city, such as Bhavani Housing Society and Vinay school in Bhavani Peth and Rahul Garden in Kothurd. The total expense of the work is of nearly Rs 1 crore, with each project being pegged at around Rs 20 lakh.
“The civic officials have not followed their own directives and issued the tender notices. The instructions from the commissioner’s office have been ignored,” said Vivek Velankar of citizens’ group Sajag Nagrik Manch.
The policy states that a review report from the water supply and sewage treatment authorities should be taken if any road beyond a width of 12m has to be concreted. A scrutiny report from a technical committee is also a must.
“We will follow the policy. Further actions regarding the tenders will be taken as per the policy. The officer who has issued the tenders will be told to do the needful for stopping the work. The tenders will be withdrawn,” Kothrud and Bavdhan ward officer Jayant Bhosekar said.
The policy was formulated after various citizens groups had urged the commissioner to stop granting permission to new cement concrete roads with immediate effect. The demand had come in the last week of February after the Pune Municipal Corporation’s standing committee approved the 24X7 water supply tenders.
Of the around 2,400km roads across the city, nearly 400km is concrete. About 1,700km of roads would be dug up for the 24X7 water supply project to lay water supply pipelines. The digging is expected to start soon in five areas, including Sahakarnagar, Katraj and Yerawada, where a pilot project would be carried out.
