2 min readPuneMar 29, 2026 05:02 PM IST
Residents in suburban Pune are protesting against the damage caused to a narrow road that dumpers and trucks transporting stone, gravel, and crushed sand are using as an alternative route to Survey No. 5 in Benkarnagar, Dhayari, where roadwork is underway.
Because heavy vehicles are destroying water pipelines, sewage lines, and chambers, sewage flows openly on the streets, causing immense hardship to thousands of locals, residents complain.
The influx of heavy vehicles has also led to frequent traffic jams and an increase in accidents.
Residents say they feel abandoned because of the alleged negligence of the traffic department and the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). They have decided to hold a massive protest demanding a ban on all trucks, dumpers, and other heavy vehicles on the narrow road.
Dhananjay Benkar, city president of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), has submitted a memorandum to the PMC administration regarding the issue.
“The work on the main road in the Benkar area is progressing very slowly, forcing traffic onto the alternative route for the last two months. This area is extremely narrow, densely populated, and consists of a large network of housing societies. Although traffic was diverted here, the heavy vehicles have crushed the sewage and water line chambers, causing water to gush out uncontrollably. Sewage is entering people’s homes, and pools of wastewater have collected at the doorsteps of houses and societies. The resulting stench poses a serious threat to public health. Therefore, heavy vehicles must be immediately banned from using this alternative route,” he wrote in the memorandum.
Benkar said the alternative route has become dangerous for local residents, students, women, and senior citizens, with pedestrians and children being injured in collisions with dumpers and trucks.
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Shopkeepers and small-business owners find it hazardous to run their businesses as dumpers nearly crash into their storefronts, he said.
“On this narrow road, autorickshaws, two-wheelers, and mini school buses frequently get stuck, as two vehicles cannot pass each other from opposite directions,” Benkar said.
