Pune: A tempo overturned in Ghorpadi area after its wheel got stuck in a large pothole on the road on Thursday (August 22). Local residents and pedestrians quickly came to the scene, helping to lift the vehicle out of the pothole.

The incident has sparked outrage, leading the General Secretary of the Pune City District Congress Committee, Sanjay Raghunath Kawade, to issue an open challenge to both the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and the Pune Cantonment Board, demanding immediate action to repair the deteriorating roads in Ghorpadi and surrounding areas.

Sanjay Kawade highlighted that for the past two years, water has been accumulating on the road near Marimata Nagar in Ghorpadi due to an unresolved issue. Despite multiple complaints, neither the PMC nor the Cantonment Board has been able to identify or repair the fault. As a result, large potholes have formed, posing significant hazards to motorists.

The leader accused the local authorities of being incapable of performing their duties and warned that if these issues are not resolved, residents are prepared to launch more aggressive protests. He emphasized that taxpayers should not have to suffer due to the negligence of the officials, who are paid with public funds.

In a separate but related incident, four individuals assaulted a motorist after water from a pothole splashed onto them as his car hit the pothole. The altercation occurred in front of Janseva Bank in Keshavnagar, Mundhwa. The motorist, Yash Vijay Manwani (29), who had traveled from Vikhroli, Mumbai, lodged a complaint with the Mundhwa Police Station.

The complaint states that as Yash was driving through Keshavnagar around 6 PM on Tuesday (August 20), his car’s wheel hit a pothole, causing rainwater to splash onto a pedestrian and a motorcyclist. In retaliation, the pedestrian, the motorcyclist, and two others standing nearby verbally abused and assaulted Yash with sticks, also damaging his car. A case has been registered against the four unidentified individuals.