E-Paper
Promised new roads by June, Patiala will have to wait till Dec
Out of the 150 road works sanctioned by the state government in February this year, only 25 have been completed so far. This, even as the residents were promised the completion of all these projects by June this year.
Out of the 150 road works sanctioned by the state government in February this year, only 25 have been completed so far. This, even as the residents were promised the completion of all these projects by June this year.
Nearly 60% of the works were to be constructed with bituminous material while others were planned with interlocked tiles.
Officials said that the works got delayed due to contractors’ refusal to start work allegedly due to dispute over payments. The work further got delayed due to monsoon season, they said.
For instance, the work orders for laying interlocked tiles in Adarsh Nagar and Gurdip Colony were issued on May 10, which has still not been started. Similarly, the interlocked road works adjoining the streets of Tej Bagh colony and Jagdish colony is also yet to be started.
The latest compliance report of these works suggests that the completion of roads with interlocked tiles will take another one and half months.
On the other hand, the construction of bitumen roads would start only in the mid of next month and is not likely to be completed before November. It can even stretch till December.
There are areas like Mathura colony, where the new roads await for last many years. Akali leadership concerned The recent review meetings held under cabinet minister Surjit Singh Rakhra is privy to the fact that local Akali leadership is concerned at the pace of development projects.
MC’s jurisdiction covers entire Patiala urban assembly segment and 70% area of Patiala rural segment.
As Shiromani Akali Dal is eyeing on the Patiala rural segment, the delay in development projects could dent their prospects.
The fact that work orders of nearly `14 crore is still at the tendering stage is one more cause of worry for the ruling government.
Officials of both local administration and MC have been reviewing the progress almost on weekly basis. Situation better now: MC MC Commissioner PS Gill said the situation has improved now as pending bitumen and interlocked tiles’ works are under various phases of progression.
