Times
of India: Gurgaon: Sunday, 31 August 2014.
An RTI reply
has revealed that the municipal corporation has spent Rs 71 lakh to repair the
Old Delhi-Gurgaon road but the road is still in a shambles. There are cracks
and potholes at many places and a part of the road, where sewer repair work was
going on, has caved in.
MCG
authorities have acknowledged in the RTI reply that "It is aware of all
kinds of defects that have occurred on this road", but have failed to
explain why the road is still in a mess despite so much money having been
spent. In their defence, they said the road was repaired, but the road could
not be entirely upgraded as the state government has yet to approve the entire
amount of Rs 55 crore earmarked for the project.
"I find
it ridiculous that the MCG has spent Rs 71 lakh on this road and within months
it has developed cracks and potholes at many places. Ideally they should have
included the sewer repair work and the road upgrade work within the same
project instead of splitting it into two. This way the whole road would not
have to be dug up all over again to upgrade it whenever the government approves
the entire estimated fund for repairs," said Aseem Takyar, the RTI
applicant.
"Also,
in its reply the MCG has said that the maintenance of roads, made by any
agency, is usually for one year. However, in this case this rule does not seem
to apply as the private contractor has not been fined yet for the road having
caved in so easily and rapidly," Takyar said.
.JPG)
.JPG)
