Special drive to repair potholes in Greater Noida till November 7

GREATER NOIDA: As part of its special drive to repair the city’s roads, the Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority (GNIDA) has repaired at least 290 patches

GREATER NOIDA: As part of its special drive to repair the city’s roads, the Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority (GNIDA) has repaired at least 290 patches which had developed potholes, officials said.

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The authority had started the drive on October 7 with an aim to repair potholes. The target was to repair all potholes across the city in a month’s time. Officials said the work will continue till November 7. Under this drive, the authority has geo-tagged locations where repairs were needed, and also took pictures of each patch that has been repaired, officials added.

The total length of the main roads, which are 45 to 132 metres wide, is 206 kilometres in Greater Noida. Total length of internal roads, which are less than 45 metres wide, is 594 kilometres.

“We have done tagging and also taken pictures, with an aim to maintain transparency in repair work. After the month-long drive, the authority will reserve three days every month to repair potholes found on any city road,” said Narendra Bhooshan, chief executive officer of the Greater Noida authority.

He added that Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays in the second week of every month will be designated to address issues regarding potholes.

To make the special drive successful, the authority has hired a private agency – Dev Yash Projects and Infrastructure Limited – as a consultant for the repair works. The agency has been empanelled so that it can repair any pothole, said officials.

Officials said the authority has started this new system of a single agency repairing all potholes in the city so that the work gets completed in a time-bound manner and with transparency. Earlier, individual work circles had to issue tenders for small works after which road repair was to be done, said officials.

“But now, since a single agency is to repair all potholes, there will not be any delay in the work, which commuters complain against, unlike earlier. Earlier each circle officer, in his respective circle, was handling road repairs, in a total of eight work circles of the city. But the results were not as per expectations. So, the new system of a single empanelled agency was introduced,” said a GNIDA official, not authorised to speak to the media.

The authority has divided the city into two major parts – Greater Noida West and Greater Noida East – for better administration and smooth functioning. In Greater Noida West, at least 60 patches have been repaired and in Greater Noida West, 230 patches have been repaired to offer smooth commutes, said officials.

Officials said any resident can call at 120-2336046,47,48, 49 and file a complaint about potholes.

“The authority has been claiming for a long time that all potholes will be repaired. And now there is this new system. We hope that all patches will be repaired now,” said Sanjiv Kumar, a resident of sector 1, Greater Noida West.