Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) is planning to decentralise road, sewer, and building repair work to regional offices to reduce delays and ease citizen complaints.
The central departments will focus only on new capital projects, while local offices will get funds and responsibilities for routine maintenance.
Final decision on manpower, fund allocation, and work distribution is expected next week after discussions at the commissioner level.
Pune, 31 July 2025: In a major administrative shift aimed at improving civic services, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) is planning to transfer the responsibility of road, sewer, and building maintenance from central departments to its regional offices. This move is expected to reduce workload at the central level and ensure faster response to public grievances.
Currently, the PMC functions through a central office and 15 regional offices. However, overlapping responsibilities between the two have caused delays in maintenance work and confusion among departments, resulting in complaints from citizens. To address this, PMC Commissioner Nawal Kishore Ram recently held a meeting with department heads to streamline responsibilities.
At present, roads wider than 12 metres are maintained by the central road department, while narrower roads fall under the purview of regional offices. Many of these smaller roads across Pune are in poor condition, and due to insufficient funding, only patchwork repairs are carried out. Since the main department doesn't focus on narrow roads, complaints are often redirected to regional offices, frustrating residents.
Similar coordination issues exist in the sewerage department as well, where maintenance of drainage lines leads to delays because of jurisdictional confusion between central and regional offices.
To resolve these issues, the Commissioner has proposed that maintenance work across departments like roads, sewerage, and buildings be fully handed over to regional offices, along with dedicated funding. The central departments would then concentrate only on new capital projects. This, officials believe, will speed up civic works, especially in inner city areas and narrow lanes.
A broad consensus on the proposal was reached during the recent meeting. Discussions are now underway at the level of Additional Commissioners to finalise how this transition will take place, including the distribution of staff and allocation of maintenance funds. A final decision by the Commissioner is expected in the coming week.
This decentralisation plan is expected to empower regional offices with more authority and resources, ensuring better civic amenities for Pune residents.