MNGL pipeline work chokes Camp stretch, commuters fume over delay in completion

Pune: Delayed gas pipeline-laying work on a stretch between Pulgate and Golibar Maidan on the busy Pune-Solapur Road has triggered massive traffic congestion in the Pune Cantonment area, drawing sharp criticism from residents, office-goers and other daily commuters.The ongoing work by Maharashtra Natural Gas Limited (MNGL) has significantly reduced the carriageway width on the nearly 1km stretch, causing bumper-to-bumper traffic for the most part of the day.Citizens alleged that the work has been progressing at a "snail's pace" and accused authorities of failing to ensure timely completion, despite the road being one of the city's key traffic corridors.Motorists travelling through the stretch were seen stuck for long durations as vehicles crawled through the narrowed road over the weekend. Several commuters expressed frustration over the daily delays, honking and chaotic traffic movement in the cantonment area."This road has become a nightmare during peak hours. What should take 10 minutes now takes nearly 40 minutes. There is dust, chaos and absolutely no traffic management," said Rohit Kulkarni, an IT employee who commutes daily between Hadapsar and Camp.Another commuter, college student Shweta More, said the congestion worsens in the evening. "Ambulances, school buses and office vehicles all get trapped here. Authorities should have completed this work much faster considering how important this road is," she said.Citizen activist Akash Chavan from the Camp area said the prolonged work has become a daily inconvenience for pedestrians and commuters alike. "Such works should ideally be completed within a week or so. But this has been going on for a long time. Citizens are suffering every day," he said.Officials of Pune Cantonment Board (PCB) said permission for the pipeline work had been granted to MNGL for connecting a gas line to a petrol pump located in the cantonment limits from the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) area.An MNGL official chose anonymity and told TOI, "We have paid road digging charges to PMC. The execution of work is done on the basis of connections. Often, our workers execute the work only at night. As a result, we struggle to complete the work within the deadline. This project is also being executed only at night. We will strive to finish it in the next few days."PCB chief executive officer (CEO) Vidyadhar Pawar told TOI that the work was technically challenging due to the presence of several underground utility lines."The work is a little complicated because there are other underground lines, including the Army's fibre network. Therefore, it is taking extra time. Since traffic movement is heavy during the day, workers are carrying out the excavation mainly at night. We have asked the agency to expedite the work," said a senior official from the engineering section of the PCB .Officials added that the road falls under the jurisdiction of PMC, which will undertake repairs once the pipeline work is completed.Residents pointed out that the stretch had remained in poor condition for years and was repaired only ahead of the cycle tour event held in the city in Jan this year.Former vice-president of PCB Priyanka Shirigiri also criticised the delay and said authorities should have planned the work more efficiently. "This is one of the city's major roads with extremely high traffic volume. Such works should be completed within a few days. It is unfortunate to see thousands of people wasting valuable time in traffic congestion daily," she said.Many commuters have now demanded round-the-clock work, better barricading and deployment of traffic police to ease congestion until the project is completed.