According to the residents, the poor response of voters in polling stations in Kasba Peth, Shaniwar Peth, Sadashiv Peth and Narayan Peth indicated the residents’ discontent. These areas had suffered due to improper pre-monsoon works and during the rainy season the roads became a mess.
The BJP, which had the majority in Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), was held responsible for these problems by voters. The opposition also claimed that the BJP had failed to expedite development works in these areas. Dinkar Mule from Shukrawar Peth said traffic has become horrendous in the central areas owing to repeated digging of roads and haphazard civil work.
“Metro works have added to our hardships as the roads in Mandai area are barricaded. We have expressed our dissatisfaction during the poll campaign to the candidates and political parties. We hope the new MLA executes plans to bring some relief,” he added. Residents also said that local issues were not touched upon during the poll campaign by any political party or candidate. “Leaders of political parties spoke at length on the allegations, exchange of words and counter-attacks rather than showcasing their plans for Kasba Peth area,”
Rohini Karmarkar, a resident of Sadashiv Peth, said. Surekha Joshi, a resident of Narayan Peth, said that she voted in the bypolls but was not happy with the roads. “The infrastructure has worsened due to repeated digging. There is a complete lack of coordination in executing the works because of which people are suffering. Repairs are shoddy and causing hardships,” Joshi added. Sanjay Hole of Kasba Peth said the bypoll will not have an impact on local issues.
“We expect the civic polls to take place at the earliest where we will be able to raise problems like wide roads and better drainage systems,” Hole said. Other residents said locations like Shivaji Road, Kumthekar Road, Laxmi Road and Kelkar Road were damaged. Bylanes of Sadashiv Peth, Narayan Peth and Shaniwar Peth were dug up. They were improperly resurfaced.
They said that asphalted roads were damaged and construction of new concrete roads created traffic problems and caused accidents. All these works went on for months. Some roads were dug and resurfaced multiple times at the same spots. It hassled local residents and shopkeepers and business suffered. BJP leaders from the city said 11 of the 14 corporators representing some of these wards may not get tickets to contest the next civic polls.
According to the residents, the poor response of voters in polling stations in Kasba Peth, Shaniwar Peth, Sadashiv Peth and Narayan Peth indicated the residents’ discontent.
