In an order important to all residents of Pune, the Bombay High Court (HC) directed the commissioner of Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) to make functional, within three weeks, two committees, the standard technical advisory committee (STAC) and road development and road maintenance committee (RDRMC), which are non-functional. The HC was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Pune-based citizen-activist Qaneez Sukhrani and Pushkar Kulkarni which highlighted the gross negligence by PMC in repairing, maintaining and layering roads in the city according to correct scientific technique. They have submitted several suggestions made by the two committees before the HC.
In an order, the bench of chief justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and justice Arif S Doctor says, "We direct that counsel representing PMC shall examine the said written submissions and seek instructions from the authority or authorities of PMC concerned so that this PIL petition may be disposed of with appropriate directions which may be needed considering the status of implementation of the recommendations of the two Committees. The counsel for the PMC will, thus, file a note in reply or written submissions duly signed by some responsible officer of PMC by the next date of listing."
The counsel for Ms Sukhrani and Mr Kulkarni pointed out that both committees are currently not functional. The bench then directed the PMC commissioner to take the requisite steps and ensure that these two committees become functional within three weeks.
It is a well-known fact that the roads of Pune city are consistently and repeatedly in damaged and ruinous condition. For a long time, citizens of Pune have been accustomed to patches of the road disintegrating, being washed away during the monsoon, peppered with potholes, and being on uneven levels. Motorists are left to dodge and weave through these dextrously to navigate safely. These lead to highly unsafe road conditions and increase traffic volume and congestion, especially during monsoons. This, in turn, leads to unnecessary excess use of fuel, emission of pollutants, and an increase in carbon footprint. These potholes also become receptacles for the collection of stagnant water because of overflow from sewage and drainage pipelines during the monsoon, housing filth and mosquitos, resulting in the rampant spread of vector-borne diseases.
Ms Sukhrani says, "The neglect of the PMC is even more egregious in light of the fact that the orders of Bombay HC multiple PILs have resulted in the constitution of expert panels that have provided over 100 action points for the municipal corporation to undertake to repair, maintain and layer roads, streets, lanes within the city."
In 2007, the PMC constituted the STAC with experts in road engineering from the state and city levels to suggest technical measures for improving the quality of design, specifications and construction of roads and their proper upkeep and to advise on adequate maintenance management systems for roads. The committee submitted a report with 130 detailed technical action points that PMC could undertake to improve the quality of roads.
Nine years later, PMC constituted RDRMC in 2016, entrusted with reviewing the STAC report and the road development and maintenance scenario in Pune city.
"Six years after the submission of the RDRMC report, recommendations of both the STAC and RDRMC reports are yet to be implemented. PMC proceeds with in-house and knee-jerk methods to repair, maintain and layer roads, streets, and lanes. Due to the negligence of the PMC, citizens of Pune have been constrained to and forced to accept the permanent status of dangerous roads within the city and annually witness a colossal waste of resources as roads are shoddily and unevenly patched up, and potholes are superficially filled. The end result is a patchwork quilt," Ms Sukhrani says.
She, along with Mr Kulkarni, then approached the high court with a PIL.
Here is an illustrative list of recommendations and action points by the STAC and the RDRMC reports...
1. Stormwater drainage must be improved so that periodical de-silting is performed prior and during monsoon months, along with regular inspections. Proper records of stormwater and sewer lines must be maintained with their locations, it was recommended.
2. The use of cement concrete and/ or bituminous concrete on the roads must be clarified and used appropriately to ensure optimal road strength. The design of flexible and rigid pavements should be done in strict compliance of the guidelines of the Indian Road Congress, particularly IRC 37:2012 and IRC 58:2011. The use of bituminous macadam shall be eliminated. The location of flexible and rigid pavements should also be decided with proper application of mind. Major roads (above 12m) should be overlaid with concrete over the existing BT surface. And mobile equipment should be utilised to check for bitumen content in major projects.
3. The PMC should adopt the FIDIC (Federation Internationale Des Ingenieurs Counseils) format for documentation concerning tenders for their works that are to be carried out. The MCGM (Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai) has already adopted this practice. The FIDIC system is a globally accepted format for tenders for road-related works and needs to be suitably altered only for the works sought to be done by the PMC. There should be no deviation in the time schedule and work quality of PMC. Contractors should be charged "upwardly graded" penal fees for delay and/ or deviation from the requisite work quality for better coordination between PMC and utilities. A qualified agency should do all reinstatement work.
4. The superintending engineer/s (SEs) and executive engineer/s (EEs) from the road department should have overall control and should exercise periodic physical supervision and checks. PMC should sanction additional posts at all levels. To ensure the improvement, construction, and maintenance of roads, streets, and lanes in Pune, a particular road stretch covering all aspects should be allocated to a specific sectional engineer or junior engineer (JE) of the road department or ward office.
5. One JE should be made exclusively available for overseeing trench work for each ward to supervise the work closely and ensure adherence to guidelines and conditions.
