Poor planning and coordination of cutting work, lack of systematic maintenance of services, and the multiplicity of authorities have become the bane of Delhi's roads. "Why can't the South corporation ensure that work happens in a planned manner? Why can't agencies coordinate with each other so that a road is dug just once?" said Keshav Aggarwal, a resident of CR Park.
The three corporations say the problem arises because service providers and government agencies do not submit their annual digging plans. "Meetings at the chief secretary-level are held with other agencies regularly. We ask them to submit their plans in advance but hardly any plans come to us. Agencies ask for permission according to their project plans. DJB seeks most of the permissions for repair work,'' said PK Gupta, commissioner, North corporation.
In a year, the three corporations collect close to Rs 200 crore as road restoration fees—the service providers deposit these in advance—but less than 50% of it is spent on repairing dug-up roads. "Road restoration gets delayed as these agencies apply on emergency basis. If they apply in advance, we can float tenders for the road restoration work. Also, the agencies deposit the money late," said Manish Gupta, commissioner , South corporation.
Of the Rs 32.30 crore collected by the South corporation in the last two years, just Rs 14.86 crore was spent on restoration.
"A road once cut is never repaired. The service providers don't even level the pits after the work is over. And civic agencies take ages to repair the stretch. There is serious lack of coordination between various agencies. In foreign countries, special efforts are made by the agencies to ensure that no inconvenience is caused to public due to the digging work,'' said Neerja Tikku, professor, School of Planning and Architecture.
The civic agencies are doing little to augment the existing infrastructure. With assembly elections approaching, they are relaying roads on a war footing. "It's the councillors who face the wrath of residents. It is very difficult to explain to them that the road restoration work takes time. So many times, when a road is repaired some agency or the other comes and starts excavation," said Annapurna Mishra, east Delhi mayor.
But no provision has been made to construct ducts along these roads. "Ducting is successful in congested areas like Karol Bagh and Chandni Chowk. Otherwise it is very expensive and all roads will have to be dug up, thus taking a lot of time. It is a tedious process," said PK Gupta.
Experts say that a road cut more than twice becomes weak. "If a road is cut again and again, it loses its strength, just like a piece of a cloth. It also loses its evenness. It's very difficult to repair a patch and yet maintain the same level of the road. With all agencies working in coordination, this problem can be solved," said a senior engineer with East corporation.
