Sisodia reviews road infra; training workshop to be held for junior PWD engineers

New Delhi: The Delhi government is likely to organise a training workshop for junior engineers (JEs) of the Public Works Department (PWD) to educate them on road infrastructure development across the city, said deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, who also holds the PWD portfolio, on Saturday

New Delhi: The Delhi government is likely to organise a training workshop for junior engineers (JEs) of the Public Works Department (PWD) to educate them on road infrastructure development across the city, said deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, who also holds the PWD portfolio, on Saturday. Sisodia also held a review meeting with PWD’s senior officials and junior engineers to seek suggestions on the future course of action on road development in Delhi.

HT Image

He said during the meeting that the “junior PWD engineers are ‘frontline workers on mission’ to make roads in Delhi safer”. “The junior engineers will have to develop a global vision and take ownership of their work. They need to focus on proper road infrastructure across Delhi, and also make them aesthetic and safer. They must keep a tab on all the evolving irregularities from time to time, to avoid inconvenience to commuters,” Sisodia said.

“Our junior engineers should work on developing all roads under its jurisdiction to global standards. Officials will have to ensure that commuters do not face problems during or after monsoon,” he added. Sisodia also urged the officials to share suggestions on how to make Delhi roads better, and assured them that the government will provide them with required financial support for the same.

Need quote of PWD officer(s)

PWD plans, constructs and maintains major government infrastructure assets in the city. It, in the 2021-22 financial year, had a revised budget allocation of ₹4,331 crore for road infrastructure in the city, and a total cut of ₹471 crore was seen in the budget allocations in January this year. The department — divided into seven zones — is headed by the engineer in chief, who works under the PWD secretary who reports to the PWD minister.

Benito Juarez underpass to open on July 2

At present, PWD has undertaken several large-scale transportation infrastructure projects, with two key projects — Ashram underpass and Pragati Maidan tunnel — being inaugurated in the past two months.

The department is now set to open the Benito Juarez Marg underpass to the public on July 2 this year, said a senior PWD official. “It was scheduled to open on June 27, however, because of some minor finishing works, the inauguration ceremony has been delayed by a few more days to July 2,” said the official, requesting anonymity.

The underpass will likely reduce traffic congestions on Rao Tula Ram Marg, Ring Road and Dhaula Kuan; and also, between Dhaula Kuan and Durga Bai Deshmukh Metro station, next to Delhi University’s South Campus. The 1.2km-long Y-shaped underpass is the second of the two-part Rao Tula Ram project, which the Delhi government approved in 2013.