Through a series of Right to Information (RTI) Act applications, civic activist Qaneez Sukhrani, who had procured detailed information on how Pune’s roads are being built and maintained and thereafter won a high court case, has now slammed a legal notice on the civic chief of Pune Municipal Corporation as also the Pune police and urban development department, last week for contempt of the court order.
Under RTI, Ms Sukhrani asked for details on budgets allocated for road repair and maintenance; surveys conducted by the PMC at pothole-prone stretches; implementation status of the 2016 Road Development and Road Maintenance Committee (RDRMC) Report and; the Standing Technical Advisory Committee (STAC) Report. She also asked for information on whether penalties had ever been imposed on contractors for poor work and whether engineers of various grades were held accountable. The responses she received showed a disturbing pattern of statutory breach, negligence, and prima facie contempt of court.
These findings formed the contents of her public interest litigation (PIL) (No. 88 of 2023), filed to question the quality of road-laying, repairs, and maintenance in Pune. The PIL, registered on 10 December 2023, resulted in an interim order on 18 December 2023 and a final order on 6 February 2025 by the Bombay High Court (HC), in her favour.
In its final judgement, the HC came down firmly on PMC, holding that under Section 63(18) of the Maharashtra Municipal Corporations Act, 1949, the civic body is statutorily bound to maintain all public streets and roads in good condition, free from potholes and other hazards. The bench observed that such maintenance is not a matter of mere administration but falls within the ambit of the fundamental right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.
The HC also recorded PMC’s undertaking to fully implement the recommendations of the RDRMC and STAC, ensure adherence to technical norms, and guarantee road safety for both motorists and pedestrians. Third-party audits by agencies such as Engineers India Limited (EIL) and the College of Engineering Pune (COEP) were to be part of this monitoring process.
However, none of these directives were followed. Ms Sukhrani states, “The ground reality has remained unchanged. Road conditions across Pune remain hazardous, with defective repairs, lack of accountability for contractors, and unplanned roadworks continuing unchecked. In fact, this neglect recently culminated in the tragic death of an elderly two-wheeler rider, who lost control due to a visible gap in the road and was run over by another vehicle. I wrote to senior PMC officials, warning that the civic body’s failure to uphold its duties could even amount to culpable homicide.”
Between May and August 2025, Ms Sukhrani sent multiple emails to PMC documenting the city’s deteriorating road conditions. She highlighted that potholes often remained unrepaired for weeks despite repeated complaints, that repairs were superficial and collapsed almost immediately, and that substandard materials were routinely used without proper technical supervision. She noted that instructions issued during RDRMC meetings were routinely ignored by ward-level officers and that private trenching work was being carried out without proper authorisation.
She brought to notice Jangli Maharaj Road which has remained pothole-free for nearly five decades. Ms Sukhrani argued that this example proves that durable road construction is entirely possible when proper processes are followed, yet PMC consistently fails to replicate such quality across the city. Instead, she says, the civic body continues to prioritise awarding contracts to the lowest bidder, directly correlating with poor workmanship and unsafe roads.
RDRMC itself, reconstituted under HC orders in December 2023, has failed to meet regularly. Only six meetings have been held between April 2024 and May 2025, despite repeated calls from Ms Sukhrani, who serves on the committee as a civil society representative, to convene timely reviews, particularly before and during the monsoon.
Rues Ms Sukhrani, the continuing presence of potholes, cracks, uneven surfaces, unsafe speedbreakers and open manholes has turned Pune’s roads into a public safety crisis. Waterlogging during monsoons compounds the hazards, creating risks not only for motorists but also for pedestrians and cyclists. Road repair continues to be treated as a belated fire-fighting measure, undertaken only after accidents or public outcry, rather than as a planned and preventive civic responsibility.
In her latest legal notice, Ms Sukhrani has urged PMC to reform its tendering process by placing quality above cost, enforcing blacklisting of errant contractors, and adopting construction practices proven to deliver longevity. Without such structural change, she warns, Pune will remain trapped in a cycle of shoddy construction, dangerous roads, and avoidable deaths, in violation not just of municipal law, but of citizens’ fundamental rights.
TIMELINE
- RTI applications and responses from 2018-2022.
- 10 December 2023 – PIL No. 88 of 2023 filed by activist Qaneez Sukhrani, based on RTI findings about road quality and PMC’s negligence.
- 18 December 2023 – Bombay High Court (HC) issues interim order, directs PMC to implement Standing Technical Advisory Committee (STAC) and RDRMC recommendations.
- 2 April 2024 – 28 May 2025 – Only six RDRMC meetings held despite court’s direction for regular reviews.
- 6 February 2025 – HC delivers final order, declaring PMC statutorily bound under section 63(18) of the Maharashtra Municipal Corporations Act, 1949, to maintain roads pothole-free as part of citizens’ fundamental right to life.
- July 2025 – Fatal accident: elderly citizen dies after losing control of his two-wheeler due to a road gap, sparking fresh concerns about PMC’s negligence.
- August 2025 – Ms Sukhrani sends a legal notice to PMC, warning of culpable homicide liability, highlighting poor-quality repairs, substandard materials, and lack of accountability.
(Vinita Deshmukh is consulting editor of Moneylife. She is also the convener of the Pune Metro Jagruti Abhiyaan. She is the recipient of prestigious awards like the Statesman Award for Rural Reporting, which she won twice in 1998 and 2005 and the Chameli Devi Jain Award for outstanding media person for her investigation series on Dow Chemicals. She co-authored the book "To The Last Bullet - The Inspiring Story of A Braveheart - Ashok Kamte" with Vinita Kamte and is the author of "The Mighty Fall".)
