Pune civic authorities have issued show-cause notices to five junior engineers after finding that they repeatedly failed to inspect and record public infrastructure problems in their assigned areas, even after daily field visits were made mandatory. The notices were issued by Additional Municipal Commissioner Prajit Nair following a review of work in the Dhole Patil Road and Vishrambaug regional offices.
The engineers were expected to spend two hours every morning inspecting their respective jurisdictions, identifying civic deficiencies and ensuring that pending works were taken forward. The instructions were issued around one-and-a-half months ago by Municipal Commissioner Nawal Kishore Ram in response to complaints about potholes, broken chamber covers, damaged footpaths and encroachments across Pune.
Under the monitoring system, engineers were required to record road defects and pending works and submit the information to senior officials through assistant commissioners. A separate Google Sheet was created to track the inspections and the progress of civic issues reported from different parts of the city.
During his review of the regional offices, Nair found that the five engineers had conducted field inspections only three or four times during the one-and-a-half-month period. This was significantly below the daily inspection requirement, according to the report. The engineers have been asked to explain their failure to follow the instructions, after which further action will be considered, Nair said.
The monitoring exercise has so far recorded 1,840 civic problems and pending works across the city. The list includes issues that affect everyday movement and public safety, such as damaged roads, missing or broken chamber covers, deteriorating footpaths and unauthorised encroachments. The volume of entries has provided the municipal administration with a consolidated record of unresolved problems being faced by residents.
The administration has now directed the junior engineers concerned to take the listed problems forward. However, the availability of funds and the process for awarding contracts remain immediate constraints. The report said that tenders had not been issued during the past month because the model code of conduct for the Legislative Council election was in force. As a result, funds were not available for carrying out several of the works.
The civic administration expects work on these problems to gain momentum from November, after the restrictions affecting the tendering process end. The show-cause notices mark an administrative response to the failure of field monitoring, while the recorded list of 1,840 issues will require coordination between engineers, regional offices and the departments responsible for executing the works.
