Midnight inspections for Commonwealth Games projects

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has directed senior officials to continuously monitor Commonwealth Games projects for their progress, saying sometimes they should make midnight inspections to ensure projects are completed on time and are being executed properly.

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has directed senior officials to continuously monitor Commonwealth Games projects for their progress, saying sometimes they should make midnight inspections to ensure projects are completed on time and are being executed properly.

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"Various projects under various authorities are tough to monitor. That is why the chief minister has directed senior officials of the Delhi government to undertake night inspections from time to time, sometimes at 2 am," a secretary level official of the Delhi government told IANS on condition of anonymity.

He cited the recent example of inspection of street lights upgradation work at Rohini in northwest Delhi.

"After finishing his day-to-day office work and attending to routine meetings, the official goes to a particular area for inspection without notice. He identifies the problems, whether potholes or faulty streetlights, and tells the chief minister about it," the official explained.

"Dikshit then hauls up or directs the concerned agency to look into it. It's not that the government forgets after informing or directing them. We are regularly following up the progress after our intervention," he added.

"Some agencies like the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) are highly lethargic and the pace of work is very slow. These surprise checks under the chief minister's direct supervision have achieved success," the official further said.

At present, the national capital is witnessing a complete makeover with projects of street-scaping, streetlights, road carpeting, signages and flyovers.

Around two weeks ago, Dikshit had also started a toll free helpline wherein Delhiites could call and register their complaint about potholes, overflowing drains, ill maintained parks and street lamps. Those complaints will be directed to the department concerned and followed up till the problems are rectified.