Bombay High Court Issues notice as authorities fail to open Wakad Bridge for Public.

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday issued notices to the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), among other respondents, in a petition seeking directions from the court to ensure that the Wakad-Balewadi Bridge, which was built in 2019, is opened for public use.

The citizens of Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad had approached the Bombay High Court saying that the delay in opening the bridge was inconveniencing thousands of residents, forcing them to take longer routes to their workplace and back home.

In their petition, Wakad resident Abhijit Garad and Balewadi resident Sandeep Mandloi said that citizens who commute daily for work between Wakad and Balewadi were forced to spend an extra 40 minutes to an hour by taking a longer route via the Mumbai-Bengaluru highway. If the bridge was functional, they said, over 2,50,000 residents in these areas would not face daily hardships.

The bridge over the Mutha River connects Balewadi, which falls under the PMC, and Wakad, which falls under the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC). The bridge was proposed in 2013 and completed in 2019 at a cost of Rs 31 crore.

However, the Balewadi side of the bridge does not have connectivity to existing roads. The PMC has failed in its fundamental duty to do the needful for making the already constructed bridge open for public use, leading to a waste of public funds, waste of time and fuel, the petition states. The bridge is connected from the PCMC side.

"The technical committee resolution was passed in 2013. After a very slow pace and huge delay, the bridge was finally constructed and ready by 2018-19. If there is a problem in acquiring the land from the Balewadi side for giving connectivity to the bridge, this exposes the flaws in PMC’s planning and administration. It is astonishing to see that both the corporations built the bridge without proceeding to acquire land for the bridge’s connectivity," the petitioners’ advocate Satya Muley said.

The petition points out that due to the non-availability of the bridge, the space on and around it is being used by miscreants. Garbage is dumped in the area and trucks and tankers are parked without authorisation, the petition states.

According to Garad, the delay in opening the bridge has added to the woes of citizens staying in Wakad, Kaspate Wasti, and Pimple Saudagar areas. People have to take longer routes to commute to offices in Balewadi and Baner areas even though the approach road to the bridge from the PCMC side is ready, he added.

Garad also said that though promises are made that the bridge will be operational soon, the promise itself is renewed every six months.

Mandloi said that the residents of Baner and Balewadi are facing traffic chaos daily and at times it takes 30-40 minutes to cross a single junction. The Balewadi-Wakad Link Road has been proposed for more than 10 years but no action has been taken yet, he said. This road connectivity needs the immediate attention of civic bodies to ease traffic congestion in Balewadi, he added.

Satya Muley
Satya is a leading Civil & Criminal Law lawyer from Western India.
He practices at Bombay High Court, the Supreme Court and Courts in Pune/Maharashtra & New Delhi.
For any queries or support in legal matters you can reach him at or at Contact Us
Click here to read more about us.