Concrete roads plan hits funds barrier

It seems the bumpy rides would continue to harass Delhiites for quite some time. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s ambitious plan to construct concrete roads in the city has hit a roadblock, reports Neelam Pandey.

It seems the bumpy rides would continue to harass Delhiites for quite some time. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s (MCD) ambitious plan to construct concrete roads in the city has hit a roadblock.

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According to the civic agency, the Delhi government has refused to provide funds to the MCD for constructing concrete roads citing shortage of funds. These roads were supposed to be constructed before the 2010 Games.

“The plan to construct concrete roads was prepared by our officials. But we were later told by the officials that the Delhi government has refused to provide the funds, saying their revenue was affected due to the economic slowdown,” said Mahender Nagpal, chairman of the works committee of the MCD. The agency has been constantly under fire for constructing substandard roads.

The civic agency was supposed to construct 68 concrete roads at a cost of Rs 146 crore before CWG that were prone to waterlogging in the city.

In addition to this, the MCD had also made plans to convert the bitumen roads in industrial areas into concrete road for which a total of Rs 250 crore was earmarked. This also included proper drainage, lighting among others.

Nagpal has written to chief minister Sheila Dikshit asking her to release the funds immediately so that the project can be initiated. The civic agency had earlier stated that it would cover all its bitumen roads with concrete.