PUNE: The heavy rains on Monday, that started in the morning and continued almost unabated through the day, threw normal life out of gear.Severe waterlogging, traffic snarls and pothole-riddled roads exposed the civic machinery’s lack of monsoon preparedness. Thousands were left stranded as traffic came to a near standstill on all major roads in the city.Nidhi Joshi, a Prabhat Road resident, spent a frustratingly long time stuck in a traffic jam near the Chatushrungi temple on her way to work. Finally, after waiting for 45 minutes, she dropped the idea and returned home. “I was stuck in a crazy traffic jam on the Senapati Bapat Road while driving to work on Monday morning. Just the thought of the jams near the university chowk and Baner Road scared me. So I turned my car around and headed home,” she said.Nitin Jain, an IT professional, spent an hour to negotiate just 7km. “The heavy rains had led to severe traffic jams. It took me an hour to cover the distance from my residence in Wagholi to the office at Kharadi Eon IT Park. This happens whenever there are heavy rains in the city.” Sanjeev Kumar Patil, a member of the Wagholi Housing Societies Association, said, “There is a complete chaos in and around Wagholi during the monsoon. There was a jam on this side of the city for nearly four hours. There is also severe waterlogging as there is no drainage network here. Just recently, all the drainage lines in the area were cleaned under the supervision of the superintending engineer of the public works department. However, one spell of rain brought us back to square one.” He said the roads have developed large potholes and nothing is being done to fix them. Last week, the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) had handed over the road to the gram panchayat for repairs, but there has been no progress.Potholes are a big concern for many citizens.Pankaj Damle, a resident of Sus, worried for his pregnant wife. “The stretch from Vibgyor school to Yashwin Society and Sanjivani Society is in very bad shape. In fact, one cannot even see the road anymore. My wife, who is eight months pregnant, needs to travels from Deutsche Bank in Yerawada to Sus every day. On some occasions, she feels the road conditions can actually harm her,” he said. There are no streetlights or drainage facilities here either and accidents, mostly involving two-wheelers, have become a common occurrence. The situation in and around Sus is so bad, private vehicles and delivery persons refuse to ply on the roads here.Waterlogging was also severe along the stretch between Garware overbridge and Goodluck Chowk, where people had to wade through ankle-deep water.Coupled with flyover work along the Katraj-Dehu Road bypass near Warje, the rain wrecked havoc for residents of that area. “I take the road opposite Mai Mangeshkar Hospital to travel to Shivajinagar via Karve Road. It is becoming increasingly difficult to travel due to the potholes and the waterlogging. The road was fine during monsoon last. I think the ongoing construction of the flyover has affected the road condition,” said Kapil Thakare, a resident of the area.Though temporary patchworks were done the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) at Bhagyodaynagar in Kondhwa Khurd only recently, the road here has once again developed deep potholes. “I had complained to the PMC about the condition of the road near my house and they had closed the file stating that Rs 20 lakh has been allotted for the road and that the work would start after the monsoon. However, when I pursued the matter further, they did some patchwork. However, a spell of rain on Monday has brought the potholes back.,” said Aslaan Syed.Certain citizens, however, felt the conditions are better this year when compared to last year. They said the vehicular jams were caused primarily due to traffic mismanagement and indisciplined motorists. A resident of Pashan, Myhtili Gosavi, said, “Traffic jams were a result of the rains and the mess created by motorists. I did not see much waterlogging or potholes along my route.”A resident of Vimannagar and civic activist Qaneez Sukhrani also said, “I did see some waterlogging at the Ramwadi underpass, at Deokar plot on Ahmednagar road and CoEP flyover on Monday morning. In terms of potholes, they are definitely fewer than last year. I feel that the road conditions, at least along my commute route, are slightly better than previous years. Waterlogging at Gunjan talkies junction was a problem till last year, but the installation of interlocking blocks by the PMC here has probably resolved the issue.”

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