Is that patch my road?

This year may see Delhiites getting stuck in traffic jams for hours at a stretch if the city’s civic agencies keep on delaying the task of fixing roads. Each year, ahead of monsoons, these agencies are supposed to fill up potholes and repair damaged roads.

This year may see Delhiites getting stuck in traffic jams for hours at a stretch if the city’s civic agencies keep on delaying the task of fixing roads. Each year, ahead of monsoons, these agencies are supposed to fill up potholes and repair damaged roads.

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While the agencies claim that they have repaired a large number of roads in the city, a list of pothole-ridden roads issued by Delhi Traffic Police belies their claim.

These civic agencies—the MCD and PWD—right now are busy blaming each other for a job not done.

“We have received a list of roads that we need to fix from the chief secretary’s office. But the maximum number of roads in that list belongs to the PWD. But we will take action on those that fall under our jurisdiction," said a senior MCD official.

With the monsoons already here, preparing hot-mix concrete to fill the potholes is not a viable option as the mix will not be prepared properly and will not stick properly. To overcome this problem, civic agencies will now use cold emulsion technique under which the concrete mix is not required to be prepared in the open and can be applied on the potholes directly.

There are close to 80 roads that come under the jurisdiction of the MCD, 30-odd under the PWD and the rest fall under the jurisdiction of DDA and NDMC.

“We have sent the list to all the civic agencies concerned for action. We had sent them a separate list nearly two months back, too, so that they could have the roads fixed before the monsoons,” said Satyendra Garg, joint commissioner of police, (traffic).