Sadly, even though CYG-led to this remarkable development in Baner-Balewadi villages, many other wards have been struggling for basic amenities including proper roads and a good water supply. Many of PMC’s promises like providing a Wi-Fi cover to the CYG route during the CYG, starting from Airport up to Balewadi, were left unexecuted. Several areas like the eastern parts are not yet getting sufficient water supply and still have to depend upon water tankers. Most parts of the city do not even have sufficient number of public toilets.

The CYG took place at Balewadi between October 12 and 18 and representatives from over 70 countries took part in it. The Centre had provided crores of rupees to PMC put proper infrastructure in place. Civic officials initially blamed the civic committees for the delay in approving the proposals for the civic works meant ahead of CYG. However, the PMC managed to complete a major portion of the works including the Baner subway just in the nick of time. For the Baner subway, which posed a challenge for the civic body, the PMC even sought help from private developers, whose 1,000 labourers also worked day and night to complete the task, along with the contract labourers. Similarly, Pashan-Sus Road turned out to be a major draw, with properly demarcated roads, big pavements, signages, and small patches of greenery along the road. Municipal Commissioner Praveensinh Pardeshi and a few organisations lauded the efforts put in by all the civic officials for the event.

Despite all this, the development was largely confined to Baner-Balewadi areas while other wards were remained neglected. “We have been fighting for the development of our ward for a long time now, but nothing much has happened. The residents of Katraj, or any other ward for that matter, are also the tax-payers to the PMC, yet we are deprived of good roads, water connection and other basic facilities, unlike Baner-Balewadi,” a corporator said.

Civic activist Vijay Kumbhar said, “What PMC did before and during CYG was just a patch-up work at the elevent hour. But the civic body completely neglected other parts of the city in terms of roads, garbage clearance, water supply and even traffic signals. Even though the roads have been made plush, there are no facilities as basic as toilets on the roads.”