Unauthorised road excavation in Pimpri-Chinchwad continues in defiance of the May 15 deadline, jeopardising mishaps and worsening road conditions before monsoon.
Anshu Kashid
Pune |May 22, 2025: Various agencies keep excavating across the city, directly endangering public safety and urban infrastructure right before the monsoon even after the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) set a hard deadline of May 15 for all road digging activity to be finished.
Strong warning from City Engineer Makarand Nikam: Any illegal excavation would henceforth draw both criminal and punitive action. He underlined that going forward only necessary operations pertaining to water supply and electricity will be permitted.
Illegal digging persists at several sites in spite of repeated orders and well defined limitations. On May 19, cables were laid by excavating the footpath close to MIDC Chowk on Landewadi Road in Bhosari. Civic officials arrived at the site hurried and stopped work right away.
While in Pimple Gurav’s Krishnaraj Colony and surrounding internal roads, excavation is being done for drainage lines; similar digging has been documented for ongoing urban street design projects on the Nigdi-Dapodi stretch.
To exacerbate the situation, many websites lack appropriate safety barriers or warning signs, so greatly increasing the risk of road accidents, particularly at night or during rain.
Initially, the PCMC had given government agencies, Smart City project contractors, utility companies like Mahavitaran and MNGL, and private networking companies limited digging permission. Still, the rule was clear: all digging had to stop by May 15 to give time for repairs before the monsoon.
Regretfully, in some areas of the city, these rules seem to have been overlooked. Roads dug without proper restoration work typically result in potholes, waterlogging, and bad driving conditions—all of which complicate life for inhabitants during the wet season.
To replenish and restore all trenches and dug-up roadways, PCMC has now decided on a last deadline of May 31 Any delay beyond this deadline could invite serious legal consequences.
The continuous illegal road construction following the declared deadline raises public safety issues rather than only administrative neglect. With the monsoon rapidly approaching, any delay in rebuilding roads will convert immediately into flooded streets, pothole-ridden roadways, traffic gridlock, and preventable accidents.
The Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation must now step beyond warnings and take visible, exemplary action against violators to send a clear message. At the same time, more coordination and tougher accountability from utility agencies and contractors are needed.
If civic orders continue to be disobeyed without consequence, the ultimate price will be paid by the citizens—in delays, damages, and danger.
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