The
New Indian Express: Chennai: Friday, 31 October 2014.
CHENNAI:
After dilly dallying in providing information under the RTI Act, Avadi
municipality has exposed itself to trouble by giving erroneous details on the
status of roads laid in the locality.
Mohammed
Iliyaas of Satta Panchayat Iyakkam had sought details of works completed in
Avadi municipality. However, information was denied and the municipality
provided details about work carried out in only a single ward (Ward number 27). In the reply, it was mentioned that concrete
roads were laid in Alagirisamy Street, Kalaignar Street, Mayor Stalin Street,
Velayutham Street, and KVK Samy Street at a cost of Rs 14 lakh, Rs 4 lakh, Rs
4.7 lakh, and Rs 20 lakh respectively.
When Iliyas
along with Satta Panchayat Iyakkam president Siva Ilango visited the spot, they
were shocked to find that no road had been laid in the four streets as
mentioned.
“The roads
are laid only on paper, not on the streets,” said Iliyas while highlighting the
condition of roads in the area.
“We demand
that legal action be taken against officials who have approved payment for
these unlaid roads. We are exposing this during the Vigilance Awareness Week,”
he pointed out.
Speaking to
Express, Avadi Municipal Commissioner Sivasubramanian denied allegations of any
irregularities. However, he accepted that roads were not laid in those four
streets and attributed the mistake in its reply to a ‘clerical error’.
“This is a
packaged work. We did take up works on nearby streets. Work on the four streets
would be completed after the monsoon. The work was not taken up since the work
on underground sewage network as well as water connections are not completed,”
Sivasubramanian said.
To avoid such
lapses, Satta Panchayat Iyakkam has proposed to make available details of all
civic works online. He suggested that all roads in Corporation or
Municipalities be allotted a unique number
along with all connected details such as the date when it was laid, the
contract amount, the contractor’s name, the minimum guarantee period.
If an SMS is
sent mentioning the road number, all relevant details should be given to the
sender immediately. By having such a system, citizens would be able to have quick access to
data regarding their local roads. Such a system would enable citizens fight corruption, he added.