No new road digging permissions for next 3 months in Delhi

Dug up areas inconvenience the public especially during the monsoon season and also become prone to cave-ins

No roads will be dug in Delhi for work on civic utilities or any other reason between July 1 and September 30 due to the monsoon season, the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) have said. However, exceptions will considered on a case-to-case basis if needed, the agencies said.

NDMC said that ongoing road digging/cutting works must be “neatly levelled, properly dressed and fully restored” before monsoon onset to avoid inconvenience to the public. (HT Archive)

NDMC said that ongoing road digging/cutting works must be “neatly levelled, properly dressed and fully restored” before monsoon onset to avoid inconvenience to the public.

“No road cutting permission shall be granted during the monsoon season from July 1 to September 30 except in the cases of emergent work which will be considered on a case-to-case basis with the prior approval of NDMC chairman,” NDMC said in a ban order. “Freshly dug up sites become prone to settling and cave-ins during the monsoon season. We have asked zonal staff to ensure that no fresh work is carried out. Such permissions will only be granted in emergency situations,” a senior MCD official said.

NDMC oversees a road network of 1,298km along with 52 rotaries. MCD oversees 15,000km of roads.

Road cutting refers to the permitted digging of roads carried out by utility agencies to lay down or repair pipelines, wires, cables, and other underground work. Permission for such work is required from road owning agencies such as MCD and NDMC after which the roads have to be restored through “road cutting fee” funds submitted by the agency undertaking digging work. Lack of coordination among agencies has often been blamed for poor upkeep of roads in the Capital.

NDMC assistant engineer (road cutting) in an order dated June 17 said that in cases where road digging permission has already been granted but no work has yet commenced, the concerned agency will not carry out road cutting/digging during the restricted period unless deemed urgent and approved by the chairman.

HT had previously reported that the civic body will launch a ₹92 crore road repair project from October based on a road assessment carried out by the Central Road Research Institute (CRRI), which had found different deficiencies in the avenue roads in the New Delhi area.