NEW DELHI: The new ‘Road Restoration Policy’ for agencies in Delhi, which was approved by Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal in only April 2018, has received objections from councilors in the city’s municipal corporations. As per the new policy, agencies and utilities such as Delhi Jal Board (DJB) and BSES, which had to pay a repair fee to the civic bodies earlier before cutting open roads to lay water or power lines, would no longer have to pay any such amount and may simply engage a thekedaar (contractor) to get the job done.
“Thanks to the new guidelines, there is confusion and each road is being dug up twice or thrice a month, inconveniencing the commuting public,” Shikha Rai, leader of the House in South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) said during a meeting on Tuesday.
Often, the agencies concerned are negligent when it comes to filling roads they dig up to lay pipelines. Sometimes, the contractors deputed by them use sub-standard material for restoration work, with the result being nothing than ugly patchwork. Such shoddy restoration work often leads to cave-ins, threatening commuter safety, a civic official said.
As rainwater settles on potholes or unrepaired portions of roads during monsoon, they turn near death traps for commuters, several councillors claimed. As per the policy in force earlier, agencies such Delhi Jal Board, MTNL, BSES, IGL or Delhi Metro Railway Corporation (DMRC), had to seek permission from the municipality concerned for digging up a road under the custodianship of the civic body. They also had to pay a “restoration fee” to the MCD for it to run necessary repairs on the roads. This fee had to be paid for commencing digging work.
After frequent run-ins between the BJP-ruled MCDs and the Delhi government’s DJB, the LG, in April, passed an order saying no permission from civic bodies need to be sought by agencies before digging up roads nd neither is there any need for them to pay repair fee. A senior government official, however, said, “This was the best solution that the LG could provide. There were frequent run-ins between DJB and muncipalities over how much restoration money has to be paid for each road where a waterline has to be laid.”