MLA

Kondhwa

Tilekar

Pune Municipal Corporation

PMC

BJP

Residents ofliving near Raviraj Colorado housing society have been waiting fruitlessly for a concrete road in their locality for two years. All they have received is a board announcing that funds of Rs 10 lakh have been sanctioned and that the roadwork will commence.Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Yogeshhad sanctioned the amount from his own special fund in 2016-17, but failed to follow through. Since then, residents and commuters have been forced to trudge through this broken, uneven, 15-metre stretch that only gets worse during the monsoon months.The issue came to light on Tuesday when locals circulated the image of the board and the incomplete roadwork on various social media sites.Even as the road remains broken and uneven, especially during the monsoon , the board (top) continues to proudly proclaim the funds that were allocated and the work that has been left unfinished; PIC: MANOJ BIDKARSpeaking to Mirror, one of the residents, who asked not to be named, said, “The road was sanctioned by Tilekar and the Public Works Department (PWD) was supposed to make a cement concrete road around two years ago. But after installing the board, there was no development. The) informed us that they are unable to complete the work from their funds as the MLA has already sanctioned it from his own money.”Emphasising on the need for this road, another resident added, “This road is an important one and cannot be left in this condition. It connects Raviraj Colorado, Vardhaman Nagar, Malik Nagar, Dnyneshwar Nagar, Mahaveer Nagar and others. Despite endless demands from our end, there is no development. PMC officials are professing helplessness. Now, the ‘kachcha’ road has also been dug up at several places, making the situation worse.”Slamming the lack of progress on the road, local Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) corporator Sainath Babar said, “Two years have passed and there has been absolutely no development on this road. When PMC is ready to do the work, why is the MLA not allowing them? Why is he insisting that construction be conducted only via the PWD? He could have handed over the fund to PMC and work could have gone forward. He is probably waiting for the general election to complete the task.”When contacted, PMC engineer Atul Kadu said, “This year, we made budgetary provisions for this roadwork. It is currently pending because of we need to lay down storm water drains in the area before construction of a concrete road. There is no issue over usage of the MLA fund.”While Yogesh Tilekar could not be contacted for a comment due to being out of the country, his mother Ranjana Tilekar, also acorporator, said, “As far as I know, the funds have already been sanctioned. However, due to the advent of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and other issues, the contractor could not start the work all this time. The tender was also floated rather late. Meanwhile, PMC had also started laying storm water and cables lines in the area. We did not want to have to break the concrete road again and therefore kept the work on hold.”“It is not true that the funds are lying unused. We have already started the work last week. Opposition parties are trying to create an issue out of nothing,” alleged Tilekar.█ The road was sanctioned by Tilekar and the PWD was supposed to make a concrete road. PMC told us that they are unable to complete the work from their funds as the MLA already put forth his his own money