Special cell to check health of city roads

Better roads in the Capital. That is the Municipal Corporation of Delhi's (MCD) promise.

Better roads in the Capital. That is the Municipal Corporation of Delhi's (MCD) promise.

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Under fire from Delhi high court, the civic agency said a 22-member quality control department has been formed to achieve this goal.

RK Gupta, superintendent engineer of the civic agency's quality control cell, told the court through an affidavit: "(The) MCD does not make new roads but carry out strengthening and improvement of existing road network… a separate quality control department headed by superintendent engineer assisted by eight executive engineers and 14 assistant engineers has been formed to inspect and assist the field staff in ensuring quality assurance."

The court had taken cognizance of a September 2008 series in Hindustan Times. In a hard-hitting campaign dealing with the pathetic condition of city roads, the reports highlighted how lucrative it was for corrupt MCD engineers, who colluded with contractors, to keep roads in bad shape. The MCD had immediately taken action against 19 contractors.