The developer has erected a wall on the road connecting Ubale Nagar to Kharadi

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Residents of Kharadi are up in arms against a reputable developer from the city — Panchshil Realty — after the company has been accused of blocking access to a key road that was meant to be thrown open to the public several months ago. Following complaints, the realtor has now been asked to stop work on its Kharadi project by the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA). The road in question connects Kharadi to Ubale Nagar and Nagar Road.The realtor is developing Panchshil Towers, a luxury project with 3.5 BHK, 4.5 BHK, penthouses and podium villas on this stretch. On January 5, PMRDA shot a notice to the realtor stating that one of the conditions for granting sanctions to the project was that they would (realtor) develop infrastructure and throw it open to public for use.However, in sharp contrast, Panchshil Reality blocked a 24 metre wide road that it had developed, by building a wall on the road, thereby blocking passage to the Ubale Nagar end of the road. This irked residents of Kharadi who used the road to get to Ubale Nagar, and to drop and pick up their kids from Poddar International School.With the road blocked, residents have had to make good with a winding mud track to get to the other side of the wall. “The alternate road is extremely treacherous. Not only does it have sharp turns and steep slopes, it is also muddy. We are petrified to take our kids on two-wheelers on this stretch,” said a businessman residing in Kharadi, whose child studies in Poddar School, nearby. Several others echoed similar sentiments. They complained that the situation gets worse in monsoons when a major stretch of the kuchcha road is submerged under water and the renaming portion becomes slippery.Having witnessed and even falling prey to accidents on the muddy track, the residents got in touch with Ajay Bhosale, a corporator in Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), who in turn filed a complaint with PMRDA last year. Days after receiving the elected representative’s complaint, the authority shot a letter to the developer. After several exchanges between the two sides, PMRDA asked the developer to demolish the wall and throw open the concrete road they had developed.However, with the developer not budging from its position, on January 5, PMRDA shot a notice asking them to immediately demolish the wall and throw open the road, failing which legal action would be initiated against them. Mirror team visited the spot on Tuesday, only to find the wall still in place. Construction work on Panchshil Towers was also underway in full swing.Shiv Sena corporator Bhosale told Mirror, “Since I had contested elections from the area, residents approached me with their problem. After that I approached the developer but they refused to open the road. As per law, the developer cannot block the access. Since the developer did not budge, I lodged a formal complaint with PMRDA. I am hopeful that the developer will throw open the road, now that the PMRDA has served them a notice.”Mirror reached out to Panchshil Realty for its comment. However, their spokesperson did not respond to our query till the time of going to press.Kiran Gitte, PMRDA commissioner, confirmed that his organisation has shot a notice to the developer. “We have served them a notice because people were facing a problem due to the blocked road. Our priority is to get the wall blocking the road broken. The developer has now sought some time from us. If the road isn’t opened within stipulated time, we will take action and break the wall,” Gitte said.