Pune: PMC Dismantles Racecourse Cycle Track For Road Widening, Sparking Concerns Among Citizens
The city has many people who are ready to shun fuel-guzzling vehicles and take up cycling. However, residents claim that Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) is not letting them pedal to their destination, as the civic body has dismantled the cycle track near the Racecourse on Hadapsar Road for road widening work.
“A dedicated cycle track was constructed in this area a few years ago by the PMC, presumably to promote sustainable transport and improve urban infrastructure. However, it is now being dismantled for road widening purposes. This raises serious questions about planning and resource management. It is sad to see taxpayers’ money getting wasted. Firstly, they used taxpayers’ money to create infrastructure that is now being destroyed within a short period. Such actions not only lead to a waste of resources but also undermine public trust in civic planning and execution,” said Raj Singh, a concerned citizen.
“I urge the concerned authorities to review the long-term vision of such projects and ensure better coordination between departments to avoid such wasteful expenditures in the future,” added Singh.
Jayant Pawar, an IT professional, raised serious concerns and alleged that there is no accountability, the bureaucrats run the civic body, and there are no cooperators to keep a check, and the public money is getting wasted.
“The PMC is removing the cycle track, which was built a few years ago; it is not only a waste of public funds but also creates a lot of noise in the area. The authorities do not have proper coordination between them; they make things and then break them to make way for other things. This is just an eyewash to mislead the people, and the citizens have no accountability at all,” said Pawar.
PMC says this
PMC road department head Aniruddha Pawaskar said, "The road widening project at the racecourse and other areas is at the demand of the Pune traffic police, as that area witnesses high congestion. The cycle track was made eight to nine years ago, and now the city population has increased considerably. So, to meet the current requirements, we dismantled the cycle tracks and also had to remove the plantation in that area for the road widening project. We have not touched the footpath. Recently, we also widened the Ganeshkhind road by 45 meters to improve traffic congestion. There, we have painted the cycle track with pink color so that it's noticeable, keeping it at a slightly elevated level for the safety of cyclists. We are sensitive towards cyclists and are working to provide a better commute for both motorists and non-motorists, as both are our priorities. When we are doing the road widening, there are a thousand other factors like plantations, footpaths, grids, and metro pillars that we have to take into account. For the racecourse road widening, it will be completed in a maximum of three weeks."
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