Ghaziabad: Agencies gear up to complete road repairs by Oct 30

Residents said roads in Rajendra Nagar, Shalimar Garden Extension 1, Shalimar Garden (main), Vikram Enclave, Tulsi Niketan and at Apsara border are in an abominable state

With the Uttar Pradesh government issuing directions to all municipal corporations and local bodies across the state to complete repairs and ensure roads are pothole-free by October 30 and even residents complaining of roads going from bad to worse following heavy rain during monsoon, officials of the Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation said they have expedited the road repair works and are likely to complete the works by the stipulated deadline.

Pothole on Loha Mandi Road in Ghaziabad. (Sakib Ali/HT hoto)

The directions with regard to road repairs were issued by the additional chief secretary of the state urban development department.

According to official data of the Indian Meteorological Department, Ghaziabad district received 310.2mm rain between June 1 and September 29 against the normal precipitation of 544.7mm this monsoon.

Residents said roads in Rajendra Nagar, Shalimar Garden Extension 1, Shalimar Garden (main), Vikram Enclave, Tulsi Niketan and at Apsara border are in an abominable state.

“The entire stretch below the Red Line of the Metro is very patchy and roads in other localities have potholes. Due to waterlogging caused by heavy rain, roads in many localities have been damaged. If not repaired in time, it will soon lead to air pollution, which will be another difficulty that commuters, who take these stretches daily, will have to brave,” said Jugal Kishor, a resident of Shalimar Garden.

He added residents have for long have been demanding road repairs. The current state of the roads pose a risk to those travelling in two-wheelers, said Kishor.

“There are instances of vehicles getting damaged due to potholes and patchy road stretches.The roads in many sectors of Vaishali, such as Sectors 2,3, 4 and 5, need immediate repairs,” said B K Pandey, a resident of Vaishali.

Mohan Sangwan, who lives in Indirapuram, said the condition of roads is no different in his area where 70km of the road network is maintained by the Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA).

“The roads at Kala Patthar near Swarn Jayanti Park and its adjoining areas have suffered most during the monsoon. Patchy roads and potholes are a common sight. The CISF road is in a bad state for the past one year due to the water pipeline project,” said Sangwan.

The situation is same in Patel Nagar, Shastri Nagar, Gandhi Nagar, Nehru Nagar, Raj Nagar and Govindpuram among other areas.

“In Indirapuram, the Jal Nigam will start repairing the CISF Road while the GDA will immediately start the work of making the roads pothole-free. The GDA will issue separate tenders for repairing potholes and road resurfacing work, the second work will start within a week. According to our estimates, of the 70km road network in Indirapuram, about 3% is damaged,” said A K Chaudhary, executive engineer, GDA.

Officials from the Ghaziabad municipal corporation said they are likely to spend about ₹40 crore for making the roads pothole-free and carrying out resurfacing work.

“The engineering department has almost completed the assessment; tenders for resurfacing will be floated soon for each of the roads which have been damaged during monsoon. Filling up of potholes may cost us about ₹5 crore. We are expediting the process and are likely to complete the road works in October itself,” said municipal commissioner M S Tanwar.