MCD proposes ₹1,000 crore revamp of inner colony roads in Delhi

The laying and maintenance of Delhi’s 12,700-km internal colony road network has been affected by the financial crisis in erstwhile civic bodies over the last decade

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) plans to carry out a major revamp of the Capital’s internal colony roads in the 2024-25 financial year, with a budgetary provision of around ₹1,000 crore, senior municipal officials aware of the matter said.

BJP councillors protest at the MCD House at Delhi Civic Centre on Wednesday. (Sanjeev Verma/HT photo)

The laying and maintenance of Delhi’s 12,700-km internal colony road network has been affected by the financial crisis that plagued the erstwhile North, South and East MCDs over the preceding decade.

Of the internal colony network, areas under the erstwhile South MCD has the largest share — 7,438.3km — followed by the erstwhile North MCD at 4753km, and the erstwhile East MCD at 512.4km.

The three corporations were merged into the unified MCD in May 2022.

Repairing broken roads was one of the 10 guarantees announced by AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal in run-up to the MCD polls in December 2022.

On Tuesday, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) introduced a cut motion — a budgetary amendment proposal — to modify revenue expenditure, setting aside ₹1,000 crore for the revamp of internal colony roads from the total budget proposals of ₹16,683 crore announced by MCD commissioner Gyanesh Bharti in December.

The corporation’s budget will be finalised on February 8 after a vote on amendments moved by the ruling AAP and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — AAP has a clear majority in the house, so its cut motions are expected to be passed without any difficulty.

An official from mayor Shelly Oberoi’s office said the AAP administration plans to make dedicated budgetary provision for internal colony roads under a hybrid annuity model.

“Under the hybrid annuity model, there is a PPP-like arrangement between the developer and the government agency, and payment is released in instalments, based on the completion of targeted project milestones. The developer will also responsible for the upkeep of the road for 10 years,” the official said, on condition of anonymity.

BS Vohra, who heads the East Delhi RWA Joint Front, said east Delhi has particularly suffered due to poor road maintenance, and the construction of roads has largely been carried out through MLA local area development (LAD) funds. “Some patches in colonies need urgent repairs. Promising 10-year maintenance is one thing. Promises have been made in the past as well, but it remains to be seen whether they will be able to deliver on ground,” he said.

Atul Goyal, who heads URJA (united RWAs joint action), a collective body of resident welfare associations, said that there is no doubt that inner colony roads are in poor shape and need maintenance, but the seriousness of the AAP’s claims would be seen in execution and monitoring. “There are 250 wards and the allocated funds will leave just ₹4 crore for each ward. It remains to be seen how these funds will be distributed and which wards will be prioritised. Roads in North Delhi are in very poor shape and the planned colonies need equal amount of focus,” he added.