Pune: Around a fortnight after a senior citizen died after falling into an open drainage trench in Yerawada, PMC on Thursday blacklisted the contractor responsible for the work.“A show-cause notice was issued to the contractor. Both the written clarification submitted by him and oral explanation offered during the hearing were found unsatisfactory. Consequently, orders have been issued to blacklist him,” said Pavneet Kaur, additional municipal commissioner, Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC).The 69-year-old victim died after falling into a 10-to-15-foot-deep pit dug for drainage work while walking towards the market from his home. The fatality triggered widespread questions over safety arrangements at civic infrastructure sites.As per the blacklisting order, the work was being executed under the sewage master plan for Kalyaninagar sewage district (SD-12). The project involved replacing old, dilapidated, and inadequate sewage lines with larger-diameter pipes from Devkar Chowk to Talesara Hall.“While executing the work, due to gross negligence on the part of the contractor, an accident occurred near Chitra Theatre on Oct 17, 2026,” the order stated. It added that the contractor has been debarred from undertaking any future work across all PMC departments, including roads, building development, drainage, and water supply.In a separate action, the civic body cancelled an architect’s licence, halted a developer’s ongoing projects, and ordered a departmental inquiry against civic officials for issuing an occupancy certificate without proper site verification for a building in Hingane Khurd.In the second case, the notice issued to the private developer, architect, and civic officials states that prima facie evidence indicates the final occupancy certificate was granted without proper site verification. The certificate was issued without confirming whether the works complied with approved plans or verifying mandatory environmental clearances, including environmental clearance (EC), consent to establish (CTE), and consent to operate (CTO).“The final occupancy certificate appears to have been granted despite the works being incomplete,” Kaur said.The order noted that the architect neglected incomplete works on-site, issued a completion certificate, and prima facie misled PMC. “Therefore, his architect’s licence within PMC jurisdiction shall be suspended immediately for a minimum of five years, and necessary statutory action shall be initiated against all ongoing proposals under his supervision,” it stated.For the developer, the order directs that all ongoing construction works within PMC limits be stayed with immediate effect, and any newly submitted proposals be placed on hold.
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