Pune: For more than 10,000 residents living across eight housing societies in Charholi’s Pride World City township, stepping out of their neighbourhood each day feels less like a commute and more like an ordeal. Nestled amid rapidly developing localities like Lohegaon, Dhanori, Wagholi and Kharadi, Charholi was marketed as Pune’s next residential hotspot. But behind the towering apartment complexes and promises of world-class connectivity lies a very different reality: A township effectively dependent on a single lifeline road to Pune city limits, plagued by chronic traffic snarls, water shortages and erratic power supply. Residents say they are living in a neighbourhood that has grown faster than the infrastructure meant to support it. “We have just one access road to get to PMC limits, which for us is crucial as most of us work in companies in Kharadi, Magarpatta and Vimannagar. Access to the airport is also via this single road,” IT professional Dhananjay Ashok Deshmukh said. “It passes through a narrow private road provided by Ajeenkya DY Patil University and then merges onto the already choked Porwal Road. If that private road is closed even for a day, more than 10,000 people would be as good as isolated. Other roads exist only on paper. On the ground, they are dead ends,” he said. Charholi’s rapid growth was fuelled by ambitious promises of connectivity through the proposed outer and inner ring roads, and a 90m-wide arterial road that was supposed to link to Wagholi and Spine Road. Years later, plans remain confined to blueprints while residents continue to navigate potholed roads and gridlocked traffic. During school hours, the situation descends into complete chaos. “In mornings and afternoons, when school buses enter the stretch, traffic comes to a standstill. If a PMPML bus and a school bus arrive from opposite directions, the road locks up entirely. Parents are anxious about letting children travel alone. On top of that, poor roads have led to multiple accidents, with bikers frequently skidding on damaged stretches,” resident Kshitija Tilekar said. Despite repeated attempts to engage with Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), residents claim they have largely been met with silence. “We don’t want another temporary fix,” IT professional Vinay Tatti said. “There are several roads that can be opened and integrated into a proper traffic plan. Some smaller internal roads could even function as one-way corridors to ease congestion. A parallel road to Porwal Road was acquired nearly three months ago, but no work has started. It remains inaccessible,” he said. For many, the consequences go far beyond inconvenience. Pune airport, located barely 7km away, should be reachable within 15-20 minutes. Instead, residents often spend more than an hour on narrow and congested approach roads. “Even ambulances struggle to reach us because of the traffic,” said resident Virendra Gambhir, who has lived here since 2018. Gambhir recalls experiencing this first-hand after suffering a serious fall in Dec 2020. “A hospital just 5km away took me nearly three hours to reach,” he said, adding, “I was fortunate that someone offered me a ride because getting an auto or cab is almost impossible here. Even after being discharged, every follow-up visit became exhausting and stressful because of traffic and terrible roads.” According to Gambhir, complaints filed through PCMC’s Sarathi app and emails sent to officials between Dec 2020 and April 2022 yielded little result. “My online complaints were routinely closed without any resolution, and my emails went unanswered,” he said. Water Tank Next Door, But No Flow in Taps Roads are only one part of the crisis. Residents point to an overhead water tank standing right beside the township as a symbol of the area’s infrastructure paradox. Despite its presence, households remain heavily dependent on tanker water supplied by the developer at subsidised rates. “We spend nearly Rs1 crore every year on tanker water,” said resident Dhruv Malhotra. “There is an overhead reservoir next to us, but the infrastructure required to bring water into our homes simply doesn’t exist. We are paying water tax as part of our property tax and then paying again for tankers.” Power Problems Add To Residents’ Misery If traffic and water shortages were not enough, residents say unstable electricity supply has become yet another daily struggle. “So many appliances have been damaged because of voltage fluctuations,” said Tilekar. “Almost every day, someone reports a short circuit or a damaged appliance.” Residents point out that the issue has already been acknowledged at the highest levels. In July 2023, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis reportedly raised the need for additional land allocation for an MSEDCL substation to strengthen power infrastructure in Charholi. While the proposal was subsequently approved, locals say there is little evidence of work starting on the ground. For a locality marketed as Pune’s future growth corridor, residents say the future continues to remain frustratingly out of reach. Until the promised roads, water infrastructure and power upgrades materialise, many in Charholi feel they are living in a township that is expanding rapidly but remains disconnected from the city around it. Civic Body Blames Terrain For Water Supply Woes Vijay Singh Bhosale, executive engineer of PCMC’s water supply department, said the township was facing water supply issues because it was located on elevated terrain. “The area is uphill, making it difficult to pump water to the storage tank near the township. We have already laid a pipeline and are planning to build another tank at a lower level to collect water and then pump it to the existing tank for distribution to the societies. However, this depends on receiving additional water from Bhama Askhed. At present, there is no alternative solution. The issue will be resolved once we are able to lift more water from Bhama Askhed,” Bhosale said. TOI also contacted the builder to understand coordination undertaken with civic authorities. Arvind Jain, managing director of Pride Group, said the company had been consistently engaging with the corporation to address residents’ concerns. “Connectivity within PCMC limits is largely adequate, but the airport link has remained stalled for years. A land acquisition issue involving a missing road link has now been resolved through efforts by our legal team and the corporation’s legal team. I have also invested funds to help move the project forward. Once the land is acquired, the road can be constructed, easing connectivity issues. Traffic congestion towards Vimannagar persists because of narrow roads, but the corporation is working on widening them. Development work on Porwal Road, Bharat Mata Road and Dhanori Road is also under way, and at least two of these stretches should see improvement by the end of the year,” Jain said. On water supply, Jain said necessary infrastructure was in place and PCMC was providing water, though the quantity might be insufficient. “There is no infra-related water issue, but there are financial challenges associated with procuring tanker water. To support residents, we are providing tankers to societies at subsidised rates. We remain in constant touch with civic authorities to help resolve issues and minimise inconvenience to residents,” he added. Official Speak A proposed road parallel to Pride World City is almost complete, with only the last few metres pending. This stretch passes through a hill (tekdi) area where land acquisition from around 250 property owners remains unresolved. Without faster acquisition, completing this section will be difficult. The other major connectivity project is the 9.5km road linking the township to Spine Road under the DP. About 8-8.15km has been completed. Work on the remaining portion is stalled at five points due to land acquisition issues. These include industrial properties near Godown Chowk affected by the alignment, a green-zone parcel where owners are seeking compensation at yellow-zone rates, and two hill stretches that also require acquisition. We have written to the collector’s office, and the road cannot be finished until these parcels are acquired— Bapu Gaikwad | Executive engineer, traffic & transportation department, PCMC A 100-metre stretch of line work remains pending and requires road department permission for excavation. We will apply for approval after the monsoon and expect to complete the remaining work within about one month thereafter. The newly allocated substation site in Charholi will accommodate two 10 MVA power transformers. An EHV substation has also been proposed; the proposal is ready and suitable land is being identified — Vikas Puri | Public relations officer, MSEDCL
