E-Paper
225km of UT roads in ‘very poor’ condition, need urgent repairs worth ₹33 crore
The road recarpeting work, usually carried out during March-April and October-November due to favourable weather conditions, has remained suspended since May 2024.
With the Chandigarh municipal corporation (MC) planning to restart road recarpeting only in priority areas amid a prolonged financial crunch and a year-long suspension of roadworks, an internal assessment of the MC’s road wing has found that nearly 225 kilometers of city roads are in “very poor” condition and need urgent repairs, which would cost around ₹33 crore.
The civic body, responsible for maintaining over 2,000 kilometers of roads, including V-3 (sector dividing road), V-4 (shopping street), V-5 (sector circulation road) and V-6 (access roads to houses), besides parking lots in various sectors, rehabilitation colonies, and villages, is currently struggling with a lack of financial resources.
The road recarpeting work, usually carried out during March-April and October-November due to favourable weather conditions, has remained suspended since May 2024. Despite paperwork for major projects being completed months ago, the process of opening tenders was stalled due to the financial shortfall.
However, to make sure that the crucial weather condition bracket is not missed, municipal commissioner Amit Kumar in April this year had directed officials to conduct field inspections and prepare a detailed priority list of roads that are riddled with potholes or are in a visibly deteriorated condition. “Directions have been given to identify the roads where recarpeting is required on priority. A proper list will be made and the work will be start only after inspection,” Kumar had said.
As per the internal report, the road repair backlog is spread across three divisions of the MC’s road wing. In Division 1, around 45.25 kilometers of roads have been deemed to be in a very poor condition, including key internal roads in Sectors 34, 35, 42, 48, 49 and 56. Some of these stretches were last recarpeted nearly a decade ago in 2016. The estimated cost for recarpeting is ₹5.9 crore.
Division 2, which covers areas like Mauli Jagran, Vikas Nagar, Modern Housing Complex and Indira Colony, has the highest stretch of damaged roads at about 84 kilometers. Repairing these would require ₹13.77 crore.
In Division 3, nearly 95 kilometers of roads, mostly sector-dividing V3 roads, like those between Sectors 10 and 11, 15 and 24, 20 and 21, and 23 and 24, require work, with an estimated cost of ₹14 crore.
A senior MC official confirmed that the work will soon begin on roads which are in a very poor state, marking the start of the long-delayed repairs. “The first quarter of the financial year usually brings some relief through property tax collections. These will be used to fund essential road repairs,” the official said. He added that with no funds remaining from the UT administration’s regular grant-in-aid, the MC will rely on its own tax collections to begin critical works.
Municipal commissioner Amit Kumar said, “With limited funds in hand and no additional grant from UT, we can start recrapeting only the few roads which are in a very poor condition. We will start the work in a phased manner soon.”
HT had earlier reported on the worsening state of roads across the city, especially the V3 roads, with nearly 400 kilometers in need of urgent repair. In March, in a bid to manage the crisis, the MC had proposed transferring 262 kilometers of V3 roads under its jurisdiction to the UT administration for maintenance. However, the proposal was rejected in the House, despite support from BJP councillors and mayor Harpreet Kaur Babla. Municipal commissioner Amit Kumar had also backed the idea, noting that the roads could be reclaimed once the MC’s financial position improves. However, Opposition councillors had rejected the proposal, accusing the UT administration of failing to provide adequate financial support to the MC. AAP councillor Hardeep Singh had said, “If these roads are transferred, we cannot expect further financial assistance in the future. Let the people face problems so that the administration realises the impact of MC’s financial crisis.”
