NEW DELHI: The Public Works Department (PWD) is going to take up road repairs under the “one road per week per zone” scheme of Delhi government from Saturday.
According to officials, 160 main roads managed by PWD would be taken up over eight weeks under north, south and east divisions. The roster has been sent to chief secretary Naresh Kumar’s office and approved by him. In all, 275.5km of roads have been identified for the maintenance work.
To bring all agencies on the same page, lieutenant governor Vinai Kumar Saxena and chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had given directives to the road maintenance departments, PWD and Municipal Corporation of Delhi, to come up with this roster.
In the first week (July 16 to 22), work would be done on Siri Fort Road, Lala Lajpat Rai Marg, Benito Juarez Marg, Ring Road near Mayapuri Chowk to Punjabi Bagh roundabout, Guru Nanak Dev Marg and Bahadurshah Zafar Marg starting from W-point to Delhi Gate. The longest work would be taken up on Road Number 56 starting from Ghazipur to Apsara border where a 5.6km stretch with a 60-metre footpath would be repaired.
PWD would also be repairing potholes, damaged central verges and footpaths, increasing the green cover, painting, installing reflectors, streetlights, street furniture and other public utilities, like public toilets and water ATMs.
A meeting of chief engineers was held and the roads that required attention in their areas were marked in the roster for maintenance in July, August and the first week of September. PWD is the main road owning agency. MCD also has to work on the directives of the government for proper cleanliness of back lanes and narrow roads.
The policy has been brought to make all roads of the city clean, green, well-maintained and safer for people. The agencies have also been asked to ensure cleanliness by removing garbage dumps, plastic waste and construction and demolition waste, which is where MCD comes in.
All agencies would have to submit a weekly completion report to the government. Market and residents’ welfare associations would be involved while carrying out road repairs and beautification works. Removal of encroachments on footpaths and silt taken out after cleaning of drains, so that they do not obstruct pathways, is a key agenda of the LG.
