The interlockings

For a few of years now, we've been seeing the nice interlocking blocks in the market. When introduced, these were an alternative to the tiles. I must say these blocks look great in gardens and walkways sorrounded by lush green lawns. A different look and feel than the traditional "Shahbaadi tiles". I first saw these blocks in Fergusson College CSD way back in 2001... Within no time these blocks got popular all over...

But only a couple of years ago, these blocks managed to impress the offlicaials in PMC. Slowly PMC started adopting these blocks for footpaths along side the roads. Fantastic application of these tiny marvels...So far so good. But then some wiz official came up with an idea of having these blocks deployed in all major squares in the city.

And there goes the Pandora's box wide open. Every third week one of these interlocking blocks get un-locked and sits loose. A prompt action can save a lot of trouble...but with the rep that PMC carries, instant action is a distant dream. Consequently, with Pune traffic in action, the adjacent brothers and sisters of the disjoint block start falling apart. This damage hampers the avg speed of every vehicle passing on that route.

And when realization dawns to the officials, a truck load of new blocks are ordered. Then half of the sqaure is blocked for maintenance. This hotfix deployment goes on and on for days..causing a lot of painful traffic jams. Finally when they manage to patch the entire sqaure, the intersection of tar\concrete part of the road with the interlocking blocks remain the weakling. In addition, countless blocks go waste in the transaction.

I've been seeing all this for over a year now. The Aundh road-Baner Road intersection square is one of the instance. Just 100mtrs away is the GreenPark Hotel Square on Baner road. Same story... The work never seem to finish... I wonder the rationale behind this advancement from tar\concrete to the blocks.

But but but ... when all the blocks are in place...all the repairs tend to finish ..I srill slow down when I approach these sqaures ... suspecting... "There's gotta be a block that is no more interlocked.."