Hill excavated to make way for approach road

PMC favouring a few hsg societies without obtaining lane sanction, allege Sahakarnagar residents

Locals of Sahakarnagar have accused Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) of engaging in a road construction exercise by excavating a hill to facilitate an approach road for the residents of Padmavati Nagar to aid only a handful of housing societies that already have another access road from behind. Alleging that the road being built has no sanction in the development plan (DP) and is being etched out just to provide an additional shortcut to the said housing societies, citizens have now raised a complaint with the civic body.

Residents have further claimed that the new road will become a death trap as it has a steep slope that opens towards the main road, which sees heavy traffic inflow.

The said work near Mahatma Phule Chowk (Teen Hatti Chowk) has commenced a couple of days ago. The hill is being cut using heavy machineries. To achieve the level of the main road, about 70-ft deep excavation is reportedly needed.

Talking about the activity, Anil Batane, a local resident, said, “This road was never demanded by us, yet PMC is constructing it to benefit a few housing societies in the vicinity. The patch could have been utilised to widen the existing road or build a parking space adjacent to Appa Jagtap Sports Complex and Swimming Pool, which lacks a parking.”

Appasaheb Parande, another resident, said, “The hill belongs to PMC. Despite having enough approach roads nearby, the civic body is indulging in wastage of public money. The matter as to why a few housing complexes are being entertained needs to be probed.” “There was no urgency to build this road. Once the road is laid out, these societies will not allow other locals to access the road, rendering it to automatically become private property,” he insisted.

When asked, Subhash Jagtap, the co-opted corporator from Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), said, “It is unfortunate that PMC is spending money from its own pocket to build a road for private housing societies. We have demanded that the construction of this unwanted road be stopped immediately. We don’t want the spot to turn into yet another accident-prone area due to the steep slope of the hill.”

“Already, the main chowk is narrow and undulating. On paper, this road is being showed to be built for the use of Sambhaji Nagar colony residents, which is dominated by rehabilitated people. However, these residents dwell quite far away from this stretch. The new road doesn’t even have any side margins,” he added.

Amar Shinde, executive engineer of building permission department of PMC admitted that the said road will be connected to the few societies in Padmavati Nagar. Shinde, however, clarified that they also have a plan to connect the road to the other areas by obtaining access from the societies’ premises.

“We have enforced section 205 of the Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporations (BPMC) Act, 1949, which allows us to make new public streets even if they are not there in the DP,” he informed.