‘Call Before You Dig’ app made mandatory for road work in Delhi

The platform will improve citizen safety, reduce public inconvenience and damage to underground assets as all excavated sites will be visible on one platform.

The Delhi government has made it mandatory for all road-owning agencies and utility operators to report all their excavation projects on the Call Before You Dig (CBuD) application and website to streamline road digging and excavation work in the Capital, officials said on Thursday.

According to officials, the CBuD platform will improve citizen safety, reduce public inconvenience, and reduce damage to underground assets — such as gas pipelines, sewerage systems, and storm water drains — as all excavated sites will be visible on a single platform. (Raj K Raj/Hindustan Times file photo)

Call Before You Dig

According to officials, the CBuD platform will improve citizen safety, reduce public inconvenience, and reduce damage to underground assets — such as gas pipelines, sewerage systems, and storm water drains — as all excavated sites will be visible on a single platform.

Government agencies have also been directed to incorporate mandatory clauses for using the CBuD application in tenders, requests for proposals (RFPs), and contract agreements, they said.

A government official explained that Delhi is hampered by a multiplicity of agencies. “Besides them, the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), the Delhi Metro, and power discoms frequently dig up roads for construction and repairs. Therefore, the CBuD portal aims to bring them all onto a common platform and improve coordination,” the official added.

The platform covers the entire excavation procedure — from plan submissions, digging plans, interactive mapping tools as well as automated lookup of underground utility asset owners based on the dig site location, officials said.

“Real-time alerts via SMS, email, and in-app notifications are provided to both excavators and utility owners. Utility owners also receive details of the excavation, including the digging enquiry. Emergency applications are processed within 48 hours while others can take up to seven days,” an official explained. The app and platform was launched in 2023-24.

An MCD official said on Thursday that during the State Broadband Committee meeting last month, the chief secretary had ordered mandatory use of the application. “All future contracts will also incorporate the clause for reporting the digging activity on the app. If all agencies are brought onboard, it will also help improve public safety as all excavated sites will be visible on a single platform,” official added.

A DJB official said that several workshops and training programs have been organised in the last two months for operationalisation of the CBuD platform. “We have been informed that the full potential of the platform has not been realised in the last couple of years. The number of applications and inquiries on the platform from Delhi remains very low. We are targeting to cover all engineers and registered contractors on the platform,” official said. The Public Works Department (PWD) too has appointed a nodal officer for implementing the CBuD portal.

In Delhi, eight primary road-owning and maintenance agencies are responsible for the Capital’s road network — though several other utility agencies are involved in digging and repairs. The Public Works Department (1,400km) Municipal Corporation of Delhi (12,703km) and New Delhi Municipal Council (1,290km) have the largest road networks in the city, along with Delhi Cantt, DDA, NHAI, I&FC and DSIIDC. The city suffers from poor implementation of digging and restoration policy.