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Chandigarh: Mayor demands ₹54 crore to revive road works amid fund crunch
Mayor hands over letter to Chandigarh adviser; hit by fund crunch, MC is unable to restart road repairs despite ideal weather conditions after monsoon’s retreat
Despite the onset of ideal weather conditions for road carpeting after monsoon’s departure, repair work continues to remain at a standstill due to the severe financial crisis plaguing the Chandigarh municipal corporation (MC).
On Friday, city mayor Kuldeep Kumar Dhalor urged the Chandigarh administration to release ₹54 crore urgently to resume road carpeting projects across the city. MC officials had previously stated that due to budgetary constraints, only a limited number of roads would be carpeted, starting October, even though around 267 km of city roads require urgent carpeting. However, no work has commenced 10 days into the month.
In a bid to address the issue, mayor Dhalor met UT adviser Rajeev Verma on Friday, submitting a formal letter to request the release of dedicated funds.
“The civic body maintains 2,000 km roads throughout Chandigarh, which include various types of roads, V-3, V-4, V-5, V-6, and parking lots in various sectors, rehab colonies and villages. Out of these 2,000 km, 270 km of roads have to be carpeted and the approximate cost for carpeting is ₹53 crore. Due to acute shortage of funds in MC, the work for carpeting of these roads/ parkings is held up, due to which general public is facing great inconvenience and disruption in transportation,” the mayor said in the letter.
“However, MC is providing patch work on the said roads, but such minor maintenance is not enough for providing smooth riding pavement to the general public as well as emergency vehicles. Further, it is also to reiterate that the prolonged and severe monsoon season had further damaged the pavements, which has led to urgent requirement of carpeting,” he added.
He requested that owing to these circumstances, a dedicated fund amounting to ₹54 crore may be released at the earliest for carpeting roads for facilitating the general public.
Through a report on September 25, Hindustan Times had highlighted that 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, were in dire need of repairs. “This year, 126 km of roads have already been carpeted at a cost of ₹12.43 crore. But due to the financial crisis, MC is yet to release pending payments worth ₹4 crore to contractors. Now, an estimate has been made for 267 km of roads at a cost of ₹55 crore, but due to the acute fund crunch, we will start work only on some urgent roads,” the officials had informed HT.
Amid the severe financial shortfall, MC has been unable to float any new tender for development projects since May.
All civic works, including those already approved by the finance and contract committee and the MC General House, have been halted. These include road carpeting, laying of paver blocks, renovation of community centres, beautification of markets, improvements at public toilets and cremation grounds, and horticulture 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.
Speaking to HT, the mayor said, “I have been seeking a grant of ₹200 crore for months, but to no avail. Now, I am requesting the UT to provide help at least for such urgent works.”
Blaming the AAP for the fiscal deficit, leader of opposition Kanwarjit Singh Rana said, “MC has been facing acute financial crisis for the past six months, but the mayor or his party failed to find any solution. The BJP has repeatedly called for an all-party special House to discuss financial crisis and solutions, but he has not convened the meeting even once. Even though the BJP supports the mayor and had asked him to take BJP councillors along during his meeting with the governor, he paid no heed.”
Former mayor Anup Gupta said, “This is the first time that MC does not have funds even for road repairs. The financial crisis is a result of the mayor’s immaturity and failure in running MC. How can AAP wait till October to seek funds for road carpeting when the arriving winter conditions will soon be unfavourable for work?”
