Dwarka Residents allege shoddy recarpeting work on roads (HT)
Sunil Sareen
The residents of Dwarka have been waiting for more than six years for a new coat to the progressively withering roads. After much wait, recently the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) had initiated the project of road resurfacing in Dwarka. But complaints of poor quality of work have started pouring in now.
Recently some members of Dwarka Forum, a residents’ body of Dwarka, met the DDA executive engineer, NC Godlaw who is heading the project of recarpeting master plan roads in Dwarka. The agenda was that several residents have filed complaints that the parameters of quality laid down by the DDA and the Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) were not being adhered to. The residents have complained of cracks opening up and uneven surface on the newly laid stretches of roads.
A joint team of Dwarka Forum members and DDA officials visited many sites where roads were recarpeted recently, such as Dwarka flyover road and road number 201, 224, 226, 205 and 210, among others. Several examples of poor quality were identified and shown to the DDA officials. “The DDA officials promised to relay the affected portions of the road. But they also cited various reasons for the quality such as work was done during night and early release of traffic,” said Sudha Iyer, a member of Dwarka Forum.
The residents have also questioned the working of the CRRI, which is supposed to certify the quality of road laying work. “It seems the CRRI is not very keen to carry out the quality inspection job. In the case of the present work in Dwarka, the CRRI is doing only a sketchy job and letting sub-standard work pass through even though they have charged DDA Rs 48 lakh for it,” says Sanjeev Goyal, who has filed a number of RTIs in the matter.
Another complaint was about some instances where good stretches of roads were being recarpeted. On this issue the DDA officials pointed out that there is no provision to exclude any portion and this project is covering all the master plan roads in the sub-city.
On road number 205, specific spots were shown to the DDA officials where the defects were visibly clear. “The executive engineer said this portion of the road has to be relaid and he will ensure it is relaid. Though the roads looked pretty much relaid. “During discussion it was also revealed that there is no effective repair mechanism for timely repair of roads,” says Sunil Sareen from Dwarka Forum.
Members also pointed out potholes on ramps connecting roads with service roads, which have been left unattended by the contractor. The DDA officials promised to get that rectified soon.
The residents were also informed that unlike the earlier system where service roads and main roads were handled by different divisions, now both are with the same agency. According to DDA officials, the present tender is only about master plan roads, the service roads will be covered under new guidelines of PMC carpeting. No timeline was given by the DDA officials for it. As for service roads, the DDA officials clarified that the roads up to 30m wide, as per the new policy guidelines, would be made into cement roads and these would be laid down soon, wherever drains are at a sufficiently high level from the road.
The DDA officials also promised that they shall keep Dwarka Forum members updated about any future progress on a fortnightly basis. Before final completion of work (target date 31 May) the members would be invited for a joint inspection of roads.