Pune: Rs 5000 Fine Per Pothole To Be Recovered From Contractor – PMC

Pune, 28th July 2022: The contractors who are responsible for repairing the roads in the city will now have to pay for it. Roads that have potholes during the Defect Liability Period (DLP), for this, a penalty of Rs five thousand per pothole will be collected from the contractors. This decision is going to be applicable to every contractor who has worked at the ward office level along with the main department.

Meanwhile, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has spent about Rs 2.5 crore on filling five thousand potholes in the city so far.

During the last year, roads were excavated to lay common water supply and sewerage channels in the city. Also, the telecom companies and MSEDCL were given permission to lay underground cables. Therefore, roads were dug in all parts of the city. After completing these works before the monsoon, the roads were repaired by putting cement concrete and asphalt.

Therefore, the Municipal Corporation had claimed that the people of Pune will not have to suffer from potholes in the coming monsoon season. But the very first rains that started in the first week of July exposed the poor condition of the roads in the city. Where repair work on the roads was done just a few months ago, the rain created potholes, and the gravel spilt onto the road making the roads dangerous. Due to criticism of this, the Municipal Corporation has taken a stand to take action.

139 roads belonging to the main department are in DLP, when the roads were inspected, potholes were found on the roads made by 11 contractors. The road has also been inspected by a third-party organization, but its report has not yet been submitted to the Road Department.

As the roads in DLP are of poor quality, action will be taken against the concerned contractors. In this, the administration has decided to impose a fine of Rs five thousand per pothole. Not a single contractor has been penalized as the road information and the concerned contractors are not known. But further, this action will be taken

“If there are potholes on 139 roads of the head department and the roads in the ‘DLP’ of the regional offices, a fine of Rs five thousand per pothole will be collected. The city roads will be inspected by a third-party organization and a report will be submitted. Action will be taken accordingly,” said V G Kulkarni, Head, Road Department.