HELP MAY finally be at hand for motorists who chance a hernia merely by venturing on the roads. The State Government has sanctioned a sum of Rs 2.5 crore to the Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) to patch up roads disemboweled by incessant rains that lashed the City during the last month or so.
Sources said the money was likely to be forwarded to the Corporation within a week. Whether the largesse is a result of Mayor Uma Shashi Sharma’s impassioned pleas or empathy spawned by CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s recollection of bumpy rides during his recent Indore trip is not quite clear.
One thing, though, is obvious. The sanctioned amount is unlikely to make much of a dent in the crater-sized potholes that pockmark practically every important road.
It may be recalled that the Mayor had petitioned Chouhan for a sum of Rs 5 crore for road repair during a meeting in Bhopal on September 3. A waiver of surcharge imposed on power bills incurred by the Narmada project and government’s approval for the water tax hike were the other items that came up for discussion during the meet.
Although the Chief Minister assured the Mayor of all possible fiscal assistance to repair the City’s notoriously bad roads, he made it clear that the Corporation was unlikely to get as much money as it was eyeing. “The rains have damaged roads throughout the State. If I grant Rs 5 crore to Indore what will happen to other cities,” Chouhan is reported to have remarked.
{{/usCountry}}Although the Chief Minister assured the Mayor of all possible fiscal assistance to repair the City’s notoriously bad roads, he made it clear that the Corporation was unlikely to get as much money as it was eyeing. “The rains have damaged roads throughout the State. If I grant Rs 5 crore to Indore what will happen to other cities,” Chouhan is reported to have remarked.
{{/usCountry}}The Mayor admitted the sanction of road repair funds. “Patchwork will start as soon as the money reaches us which is likely to happen by September 19,” she revealed.