Pune: The potholes on roads in Hadapsar and Warje and highways like Ahmednagar and Satara Road and some bylanes of Peth areas led to slowdown of traffic during rush hours on Wednesday. 

Even as school children and office goers complained about potholes, the Pune Municipal Corporation’s (PMC) Road Department claimed the department is busy repairing potholes throughout the day. When asked about the number of potholes repaired over the past few days, the civic officials said they do not have an account of repairs carried out by the road repairing van. 

As the city witnessed continuous rain for the past three days, the roads were full of potholes. The PMC received several complaints from  corporators and through the helpline number. 

Meanwhile, the State Urban Development Department has issued a circular stating that all municipal corporations should repair potholes within a specific period of time and ensure that the complaint receiving system is operational throughout the year. 

The circular states it is the responsibility of the local body to keep roads and footpaths levelled and properly surfaced. 

 It states that the civic body will have to repair potholes in a scientific way. Besides, authorities should display names, addresses and contact details of agencies handling digging assignments and the extent of completed task and completion date.  

When Sakal Times contacted Head of Road Department, Aniruddha Pawaskar, he said, “The PMC has set up a system to register complaints of potholes. We have four road repairing vans. Over last three days, the PMC used  73 tonnes of cold mix and 800 barrels of emulsion to repair potholes.  Our work will continue as long as we receive complaints from citizens. Rain slows down pothole repairing work. But, we are trying our best to finish work within 8 hours after receiving the complaint.”