PUNE: The treacherous condition of the stretch from Dhayari Road to Umbrya Ganpati Chowk, thanks to damaged or broken metal dividers in most places on the route, has long left commuters here frustrated and endangered — more so thanks to the civic body’s lackadaisical attitude towards fixing the problem.
Finally tired of the Pune Municipal Corporation’s (PMC) lack of response and half-hearted repairs, a local resident purchased radium tapes and glue, using advertisement banners to create effective warning reflectors at the risky spots, tying his makeshift boards to the dividers using metal wires.
Local resident Sachin Jadhav, who took matters into his own hands, said, “The cost of making a reflector is not too high. So, why the delay? If a citizen has spent not more than Rs150 to do it, why can’t PMC?”
Residents of the area expressed relief, while also mirroring the Good Samaritan’s emotion that this work should actually have been done by the civic body.
The dividers were installed five years ago, but reflector boards were never properly placed on them. Now, plastic bollards have also not been set up to warn motorists of hazards.
Jadhav clarified that after making several complaints on the PMC portal, instead of fixing functioning reflectors, PMC just pasted a few radium tapes onto damaged dividers. After following up for the nth time, Jadhav said PMC fixed just eight reflectors on the long stretch, out of which most were not visible. “The reflectors were of such poor quality that they fell off within a day of installation,” he said.
Area residents said that over the past few years, several accidents have taken place on the route.
Jadhav said many autos have collided against broken dividers; in 2022, the bent metal rod of a divider without reflectors injured a young girl severely, leading to hospitalization. “Most accidents take place at night or when it rains and nothing is visible,” he said.
Finally, Jadhav made basic but smart repairs himself. “I fixed reflectors at two spots, where major accidents occur regularly. The dividers are extremely dangerous. It was necessary to do something ourselves,” he said.
Finally tired of the Pune Municipal Corporation’s (PMC) lack of response and half-hearted repairs, a local resident purchased radium tapes and glue, using advertisement banners to create effective warning reflectors at the risky spots, tying his makeshift boards to the dividers using metal wires.
Local resident Sachin Jadhav, who took matters into his own hands, said, “The cost of making a reflector is not too high. So, why the delay? If a citizen has spent not more than Rs150 to do it, why can’t PMC?”
Residents of the area expressed relief, while also mirroring the Good Samaritan’s emotion that this work should actually have been done by the civic body.
The dividers were installed five years ago, but reflector boards were never properly placed on them. Now, plastic bollards have also not been set up to warn motorists of hazards.
Jadhav clarified that after making several complaints on the PMC portal, instead of fixing functioning reflectors, PMC just pasted a few radium tapes onto damaged dividers. After following up for the nth time, Jadhav said PMC fixed just eight reflectors on the long stretch, out of which most were not visible. “The reflectors were of such poor quality that they fell off within a day of installation,” he said.
Area residents said that over the past few years, several accidents have taken place on the route.
Jadhav said many autos have collided against broken dividers; in 2022, the bent metal rod of a divider without reflectors injured a young girl severely, leading to hospitalization. “Most accidents take place at night or when it rains and nothing is visible,” he said.
Finally, Jadhav made basic but smart repairs himself. “I fixed reflectors at two spots, where major accidents occur regularly. The dividers are extremely dangerous. It was necessary to do something ourselves,” he said.