NEW DELHI: If all goes well as per a new plan of the south civic body, road digging work will become less chaotic much to the relief of motorists on Delhi roads. The PWD along with the south civic body has modified rules to introduce a time bound clause for laying down water and sewer lines.
In a circular last month, the south civic body directed the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) to adhere to the new norms.
Soon, the rules are likely to be applicable for all works, including laying of optical fibres, which entail road digging work in South, East and North Delhi Municipal Corporations.
According to the new procedures, the dugout roads where sewer and water lines are laid have to be made motorable within 24 hours of the commencement of the work. Debris and earth dug out will be removed simultaneously, and ‘malba’ (demolition waste) cannot be dumped on the roadside.
“The procedure was revised keeping in mind the public interest. This step will focus on the movement of traffic and the shift is from the policy of ‘Deposit and Dig’ to ‘Dig and Restore’ in the long run,” additional commissioner, SDMC engineering department, Dilraj Kaur says.
The new rules also require a civic agency get its plans approved by empanelled experts.
But, a former administrative official is sceptical about the feasibility of the time-bound clause meant for repair of dugout roads. “This is a superficial plan. Any agency takes at least two weeks to repair a stretch motorable again. Unless the same agency does road digging and repair work, the time bound limit is not practical. In Delhi, the multiplicity of agencies has made work difficult. Unless it is resolved, the rules will not work,” former Works Committee Chairman in the unified Delhi Municipal Corporation, Jagish Mamgain says.