In the past three years, it must have been the fourth time that Arvind Kejriwal directed the PWD officials to conduct an assessment of the roads in the city. However, the government has apparently failed miserably to make the national capital pothole-free as was promised two years ago.
Meanwhile, two weeks ago, the ex-Chief Minister (CM), in the assembly, alleged that BJP wasted a lot of their time.
“First, Manish Sisodia was arrested and then I. Before that, a lot of time was wasted during the Corona (coronavirus) period. Now, we will have to work hard. Everyone will have to go out in their areas at night or early in the morning and inspect the roads. Let’s do an assessment of all the broken PWD roads. After this, CM Atishi will give the order to repair all those roads together.”
Even after years of various projects being proposed for many of the so-called ‘pain points’ in the city in terms of bad roads, the conditions of many of them remain the same.
Leave aside the roads inside the residential areas and markets, the main roads and even the flyovers have been lying neglected irrespective of hundreds of complaints from the civic bodies, commuters and shopkeepers.
We visited some of the most taken but poorly-maintained roads in the city. Let’s have a look at the ten pain points in the city:
1. Akshardham to Noida Link Road
In February this year, Atishi, then a Delhi cabinet minister, approved projects aimed at repairing roads between Akshardham and Noida to improve traffic flow. The road stretches from NH24 to Link Road no.
1, NH24 to Link Road no. 2, Noida Link Road, and Noida Flyover (slip road) were part of the restoration project but nothing has been changed on this stretch. The entire stretch starting from Akshardham has been in bad shape with major potholes and rough patches on the road.
2. Vasant Kunj road
There have been regular complaints about the roads along Vasant Kunj seeking urgent infrastructure upgrades. However, according to the members of residents’ welfare association (RWA), there are major traffic jams in the parts of Nelson Mandela Road, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg and Mehrauli-Mahipalpur roads as some or the other beautification projects are always going on.
In 2023, Nelson Mandela Marg was revamped as part of a streetscaping project to bring the stretch up to European standards but unfortunately, the other part of the Vasant Kunj area remains untouched.
3. Welcome-Shahadra stretch
For the past ten years, this stretch has failed to get attention from the authorities. The road during the monsoons becomes pothole-ridden and filled with muddy patches making it difficult for the commuters.
From the Shahdra metro station and under the Shahdra flyover, the roads leading to Maujpur and Babarpur are equally in bad shape. The poor traffic flow owing to the condition of the roads and the major encroachments on both sides adds to the problem.
4. DND - Ashram flyover extension
The Ashram flyover extension, which connects the old Ashram flyover with the DND Flyway, was inaugurated in March last year by the then chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.
However, the use of the infrastructure was restricted only to light vehicles due to the presence of the low-hanging high-tension wires, and an overhead iron barrier was placed at the entrance of the flyover extension to discourage heavy vehicles from using it. However once the heavy vehicles were allowed by June end last year, the condition of the road has gone for a toss. It already needs recarpetting.
5.Sarita Vihar
Going by the residents and daily commuters taking the Sarita Vihar T point connecting the Mathura road to Okhla side with railway under-bridge, construction work keeps going on and then the condition of the road has been in a horrible state for a long time.
Ironically, what people say is that on such a poorly maintained road lies the office of Central Road Research Institute (CRRI). Also, travelling from NH44 and taking a cloverleaf before Apollo to go to Noida, the road is in shambles up to the first Indian Oil petrol pump. A lot of complaints have been submitted to the authorities in this regard.
6.Chattarpur Enclave to Maidangarhi
The road leading to the prominent Indira Gandhi National Open University has become narrow due to large encroachments by the shopkeepers which leaves hardly any space for pedestrians and vehicles. Six large settlement colonies use this single road and these are Saidulajab, Paryavaran Complex, Sainik farms (Anupam Garden), Freedom Fighters Enclave, Neb Sarai and Maidan Garhi.
Owing to the metro construction work on this stretch, the condition of the road is a tortured terrain. The shopkeepers on this stretch and daily commuters have been demanding the authorities concerned to get the encroachments cleared so that the road can be recarpeted and potholes can be fixed timely.
7.Sadar Bazar
While going towards the walled city extension area comprising the Sadar Bazaar or Azad Market, famous for the crockery items, from the route of Tis Hazari courts and towards the Rani Jhansi flyover, you will wish that you had taken a U-turn before moving ahead on the Azad Market chowk road. The pen gaps in a long stretch of this road are such that they can damage tyres, make the vehicles swerve and cause collisions.
The road starting from the Roshanara light point up to the Azad Market Chowk has been in bad shape for many years and the government apparently pays no heed to it.
Talking to the officials of this area, Jai Prakash said, “We have been writing to the concerned chief engineers in the PWD but the Delhi government has been of no help. When I became the mayor, I initiated the development of the Rani Jhansi flyover and got it completed in one and half years but later on no one took care of it. I have written several letters but to no effect.”
8.Mundka- Tikri Border stretch
This stretch was in the news recently when Lieutenant Governor (L-G) VK Saxena, during his visit in September, urged Atishi to get the stretch from Nangloi to Tikri border repaired at the earliest. He found the stretch unusable due to cracked road surface, open and overflowing sewers, two-foot potholes and dysfunctional streetlights.
Also, it has been over two years since the Mundka fire incident happened but nothing has changed on that road. The entire stretch starting from the metro station is in a pitiable condition.
9.Narayana-Kirti Nagar Pocket
Ill-maintained and congested roads in Kirti Nagar are in crisis too. Going by the shopkeepers in the furniture market, the roads were laid down over ten years ago and since then nobody has turned around to at least check this area where people not only from Delhi but from other parts of the country as well visit to buy furniture.
10.Loni Road
Loni Road is a very congested road and a main linking road to various places. This road was supposed to be widened long ago but work for expanding it has not been carried out yet, which results in jams on a daily basis. People complain that the maintenance work has not been done for a long time and it is highly risky to drive on the road.
Similarly, the other roads which need re-carpeting include the road in front of the LNJP hospital and Ganesh Chowk road.
The constraints
Meanwhile. one of the senior officials of the PWD who takes care of the road maintenance, said, “Strict instructions have been issued to all officials to take care of their area concerned and we all are working on it. The government has roped in the MCD as well to tackle the situation. Most likely by the end of this year, the battered roads will be redone.”
He added, “The roads which have been lying untouched for a long time are because of inter-departmental issues. Sometimes, the BSES has laid some lines due to which the road requires repair work. In other cases, if their project is ongoing, we cannot go ahead repairing the road. This is the reason the repairs get delayed like at the ISBT and Majnu Ka Tila.”
According to the officials, another issue is the sanction of the adequate fund. One of the officials stated, “Owing to the Covid, PWD was receiving lesser funds in the past two years which is why we could not take forward some of the projects. However, we are working on them now. In the recent past, there was the NGT ban on construction due to which no work could be done. This was followed by the cold weather which acted as another hindrance and did not permit us to take up the road relaying process”.
According to PWD officials, a total of 1,200 km of road comes under its jurisdiction and PWD follows a five-year cycle wherein after every five years, the roads undergo a structural test and on average, a fifth of the road network (about 240 km) are relayed every year.
It was on October 2, 2021, when Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal directed the PWD officials to make the national capital roads pothole-free in the next 10 days and repair broken patches by October 20 to ensure smooth travel for people.
Kejriwal, in a statement in 2022, stated that the PWD had conducted a survey in which 1,357 potholes and 309 patches had been identified to be repaired.
“Under this plan, the PWD will check the conditions of the roads, repair footpaths and potholes,” the statement released by the former CM Kejriwal had read.
Also, now there are speculations that work would remain incomplete as the NGT, in November, usually bans construction and industrial activities in the national capital for two weeks as a measure to mitigate air pollution.
What happened six years ago?
In 2018, the trio of municipal corporations asked the Centre for Rs 300 crore, but only the south body was granted Rs 48 crore. This money was utilised for procuring water sprinklers, mechanised sweeping machines and other anti-pollution equipment. MCD claimed that under its “One Road per Zone per Week” initiative, 96 roads were identified for restoration, of which 50 roads were revamped earlier this year.
In South Delhi, the inner lanes in Chittaranjan Park are in poor shape and to add to the woe there, the PWD-managed Bipin Chandra Pal Marg has also been in terrible condition for the past few months.
Given assembly elections in Delhi are just months, it will be a daunting task for the AAP government in the city to get all the roads fixed in time; otherwise, it has all the ingredients to become a poll issue.