A casual evening ride turned out to be a nightmare for one Pravesh Khandelwal and his beloved pet - a Cat when the duo, astride on Pravesh's Motorcycle ( Yes, the feline members of Pune's high society do like sitting pillion on powerful two stroke motorbikes), and completely unaware of the dangers posed by the roads of Pune, slipped into a pothole on a day when the rain gods did their bit to undo the 'good' work done by the People for Maintaining Chaos (PMC).
Trapped in the pothole for over 27 agonising minutes the duo were rescued by an Army rescue team in the late hours of Tuesday. "Such a horrific incident was just waiting to happen, given the state of most of the roads in the city. Life is hell, specially for those who use the Wanowarie - Kalyani Nagar stretch", said Nitesh Naidu, a man of great Authority in the Banking sector. Thanks to this age of satellite Television, the rescue operation was telecast live across the country. However as the entire country prayed for the well being of the duo, it remains an irony that Puneites could not catch the drama on TV as the MSEB had an 'unscheduled' power cut planned in most parts of the city.
Pravesh (also featured here), who resides in Pune and hails from Nagpur, was returning home along with his Cat after an evening of fun and frolic when he didnt spot a pothole in time and crashed to the bottom of the pothole. For long Pravesh's shouts for help, interspersed with his Cat's equally loud 'Meows' were not enough to catch the attention of passers by. Help wasnt to come until, former Productivity Improvement Engineer Apurva Nair, on one of his aimless long rides on his motorbike, happened to hear the duo's helpless and desparate screams. Apurva, a man not given to procrastination, wasted no time in alerting the concerned authorities and within minutes an Army rescue team arrived to end the agony of the cat and her Master.
"The PMC is trying to cut costs. So instead of spending on digging of borewells, we allow the potholes to become as deep as possible so that we can make use of underground water", said an unapologetic PMC chief Neeraj Iyer, quietly proud of the PMC's ingenuity. When asked about the danger to motorcyclists, he said that the PMC is thinking of extending the duration of time for which the street lights are kept on by a few hours so that then the street lights are on even after the sun has set. "This will help reduce the number of accidents in the city", he added.
Pravesh and his Cat were soon discharged after a small medical checkup. "It was extremely scary down there. However on the brigher side, I got to spend some quiet moments with my cat", said Pravesh speaking from home. Which home ? that is out of the scope of this report.
P.S: Pravesh I kept my promise ;-). Take it with a pinch of salt!
Trapped in the pothole for over 27 agonising minutes the duo were rescued by an Army rescue team in the late hours of Tuesday. "Such a horrific incident was just waiting to happen, given the state of most of the roads in the city. Life is hell, specially for those who use the Wanowarie - Kalyani Nagar stretch", said Nitesh Naidu, a man of great Authority in the Banking sector. Thanks to this age of satellite Television, the rescue operation was telecast live across the country. However as the entire country prayed for the well being of the duo, it remains an irony that Puneites could not catch the drama on TV as the MSEB had an 'unscheduled' power cut planned in most parts of the city.
Pravesh (also featured here), who resides in Pune and hails from Nagpur, was returning home along with his Cat after an evening of fun and frolic when he didnt spot a pothole in time and crashed to the bottom of the pothole. For long Pravesh's shouts for help, interspersed with his Cat's equally loud 'Meows' were not enough to catch the attention of passers by. Help wasnt to come until, former Productivity Improvement Engineer Apurva Nair, on one of his aimless long rides on his motorbike, happened to hear the duo's helpless and desparate screams. Apurva, a man not given to procrastination, wasted no time in alerting the concerned authorities and within minutes an Army rescue team arrived to end the agony of the cat and her Master.
"The PMC is trying to cut costs. So instead of spending on digging of borewells, we allow the potholes to become as deep as possible so that we can make use of underground water", said an unapologetic PMC chief Neeraj Iyer, quietly proud of the PMC's ingenuity. When asked about the danger to motorcyclists, he said that the PMC is thinking of extending the duration of time for which the street lights are kept on by a few hours so that then the street lights are on even after the sun has set. "This will help reduce the number of accidents in the city", he added.
Pravesh and his Cat were soon discharged after a small medical checkup. "It was extremely scary down there. However on the brigher side, I got to spend some quiet moments with my cat", said Pravesh speaking from home. Which home ? that is out of the scope of this report.
P.S: Pravesh I kept my promise ;-). Take it with a pinch of salt!
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