An international cycling race of about 450 kilometers, passing through different parts of Pune district, will start on 19th of January 2026. It is said that more than 150 cyclists from 35 countries are going to participate. Preparations for this event are going on, such as building roads, filling potholes, painting walls, and installing streetlights across Pune city.
The administration is promoting this work as if they are creating a garden in a desert. In a newspaper article that looks more like a brochure, the District Collector says that the improved condition of the roads, thanks to this cycling event, will help farmers transport their produce faster and will also boost small industries. In a smart city like Pune, roads should always be in good condition so that farm produce can reach markets quickly. How ridiculous it is that one has to wait for an international event for internal roads to be in good condition.
Considering the response to multiple complaints filed to the Pune Municipal Corporation for road repair, this systemic corruption under the guise of development becomes even more obvious. Once, because a central minister was visiting, a road was asphalted overnight while drainage work was still going on, and after the minister’s convoy passed, the road was dug up again. Another time, the Corporation officially informed that they would come to fill potholes after one month, once asphalt (Dambar) became available. Important city roads are suddenly closed and unsafe diversions are put in place. Broken covers and grills of drainage chambers are not replaced even after written complaints. And now, for an international cycling event, they claim that pouring asphalt on roads will boost industries!
I am watching this work closely in the Kondhwa-Yevalewadi area. The roads are being asphalted like applying a bandage. If the cyclists are going to use only half the road, only half has been repaired, and the remaining half is left dug up. Old but working streetlights are left as they are, new poles are erected, and then even the new poles are repainted. One pole is bent at almost a twenty-degree angle, yet instead of straightening it, it has been painted as it is. The bicycle paintings on the walls look grotesque rather than creative.
Overall, there is a strong possibility of large-scale corruption in the entire planning. Also, many citizens have been inconvenienced by suddenly closing roads in the name of this work. For example, the distance from Yevalewadi to Bhivari is ten kilometers, but because Bopdev Ghat has been closed for many days, people have to travel thirty-two kilometers instead.
Any initiative can have both good and bad effects. But instead of discussing the real need for it, the usefulness compared to the money spent, and the priority chosen when there are other serious problems, the media seems to be openly doing marketing (PR) work for the administration.
Many such projects are being implemented by the administration by taking citizens for granted. During the G-20 meeting earlier, LED light strings wrapped around streetlight poles and flowering plants placed in dividers disappeared within a week. Has anyone asked the municipal corporation who removed them and where they went?
Seeing all this, it feels like corruption existed earlier too, but now it is being done openly, without even trying to hide it.
Tomorrow, ‘common’ public will surely go out to enjoy the ‘festival’ of democracy and to ‘donate’ their valuable votes. But remember that for the next five years, the responsibility of questioning the administration’s work also lies with us. Is it not wrong to expect that Corporators (Nagarsevak) who bought tickets, sold their integrity, or were elected by buying votes will do this job?
~ Mandar Shinde
14/01/2026
