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Chandigarh: Cash-strapped MC puts road repairs on hold
A large section of Chandigarh roads, particularly the Sector 44/45, Sector 45/47 and Sector 40/41 dividing roads, and those in Manimajra and various colonies, are in dire need of repairs
Awaiting a special grant from the Chandigarh administration, the municipal corporation (MC) has put the already long-pending road carpeting work on hold.
A large section of city roads, particularly the Sector 44/45, Sector 45/47 and Sector 40/41 dividing roads, and those in Manimajra and various colonies, are in dire need of repairs.
Following monsoon’s departure, MC had planned to initiate road repairs in the first week of October. However, no work has commenced amid budgetary constraints despite onset of ideal weather conditions.
The civic body maintains 2,000 km roads throughout Chandigarh, of which it had planned to repair 270 km of roads this fiscal at a cost of ₹54 crore.
Though mayor Kuldeep Kumar Dhalor had requested the UT administration last week to release ₹54 crore urgently to resume road carpeting projects across the city, no special grant has been released, forcing the civic body to halt the work in October.
Amid the severe financial shortfall, MC has been unable to float any new tender for development projects since May this year, stalling the city’s development.
All civic works, including those already approved by the finance and contract committee (F&CC) and the MC General House, have been halted. This includes road carpeting, laying of paver blocks, renovation and upgrade of community centres, beautification of markets, improvements at public toilets and cremation grounds, and horticulture-related projects.
On October 5 too, the mayor had requested the UT administration to release an additional grant of ₹200 crore to resume development works in the city.
A senior UT official said, “On Wednesday, UT approved the next instalment of a routine grant for MC. We are also looking into other demands, but no decision has been taken as of now.”
However, mayor Dhalor said, “The routine grant is not enough for MC, which needs to meet committed liabilities worth ₹70 crore every month, major portion of which goes into salaries of staff. With the routine grant, we will not be able to start road carpeting for which MC needs a special grant of at least ₹55 crore. In total, I have demanded an additional grant of ₹200 crore so that other development works can be started too.”
UT’s local bodies secretary MS Brar was unavailable to comment on the issue.
Meanwhile, hitting out against the ruling AAP-Congress combine in MC, BJP councillor Maheshinder Singh Sidhu said, “City roads are broken, but the corporation has no money to fix them. This is the development model of AAP-Congress-ruled MC. They wasted public money all year in passing needless agendas while the basic necessity of pothole-free roads remained a non-priority for them. AAP-Congress have proved to be a bane for the city and its people.”
