Chandigarh MC resumes road repairs, priority is stalled projects

After a gap of two months, the Chandigarh municipal corporation resumed work on re-carpeting the city roads.

MC chief engineer Shailender Singh said contractors have begun basic road cleaning work, while the laying of bitumen and tar-coal will begin in the next few days, as mixing plants are starting up.

While some contractors reached the MC office, saying their labour is stranded in Himachal Pradesh, MC has taken up the matter with local authorities to issue them transit passes without delay. Shailender Singh said that first pending work which was stalled due to the lockdown will be finished first. It includes unfinished works in Sector 9 near the secretariat, Sector 34 and Sector 26.

“We are aiming at completing allotted works worth ?30 crore before monsoon. We roughly have little over a month for road construction work and will try to expedite the allotted work,” he said.

MC commissioner KK Yadav clarified that funds will not be an issue since special grants for these works are lying safe with the accounts branch.

As per MC’s internal estimates, apart from allotted works estimated at ?30 crore, re-carpeting work is due on mostly internal roads at an estimated ?40 crore. The chief engineer said that in coming General House meeting, they will be tabling estimates of several pending works for clearance of the house followed by the tender process and allotment of works.

However, the actual work is not likely to begin before monsoon is over in September, he said.

Meanwhile, UT adviser Manoj Parida also shared the news of resumption of road woks, and resident grabbed the opportunity to complain about broken roads in their areas.

Twitter user Mridul (@Mridul_9140) told Parida that internal roads in Sector 29-B, near traffic police lines and govt model school, are in a pathetic state since last year. Another user Piyush Sharma (@PiyushS32539737) said the road in Sector 22-B, behind the mobile market, is in a poor condition since January. “No one has bothered to rebuild it after pipe-work done by Chandigarh MC,” he stated.

Shivam Ahuja (@ShivamA26947751) sought MC’s intervention in Sector 23 where internal roads are dilapidated. Another user mentioned the appalling state of Daria-Makhan Majra Road.