CHENNAI: In an effort to improve road conditions in the national capital, senior officials of the Public Works Department (PWD) will now be directly responsible for monitoring and maintaining specific road stretches across Delhi. The initiative aims to address the deteriorating condition of several roads under the PWD’s jurisdiction by assigning senior officers, up to the rank of superintendent engineers, to oversee designated stretches.
A senior PWD official said on Monday that the decision was made in response to concerns over the poor upkeep of several roads in Delhi. “It has been observed that many stretches of PWD roads in Delhi lack the desired appearance due to issues such as the maintenance of carriageways, footpaths, kerbs, and central verges.
To tackle these issues, we have decided to engage all senior PWD officers, up to the rank of superintendent engineers, and require them to adopt at least one PWD road stretch of their choice for this purpose,” the official added.
To streamline the process, an Excel sheet listing the names of senior officials has been circulated, and officers have been instructed to submit their top three preferred road stretches within a week. “Each official will subsequently be allotted one stretch to monitor and provide valuable feedback to the concerned executing officials. This feedback will be shared via the E-Monitoring App and followed up for compliance,” he further added.
The initiative is expected to bring significant improvements in road quality by ensuring senior officials are actively involved in maintenance efforts. Earlier this month, the PWD set an April 30 deadline to repair 7,000 potholes across Delhi.
The department has been filling potholes using its maintenance vans and has identified 20 lakh square meters of damaged road sections requiring urgent repairs. The tendering process for these repairs is expected to conclude by March 15, with all work targeted for completion by April 30.
The issue of poor road infrastructure was a major talking point in the recent Delhi Assembly elections, with the newly elected BJP government prioritising road maintenance. Parvesh Singh, the newly appointed PWD minister, is overseeing the ongoing initiatives. The BJP secured a decisive victory in the elections, winning 48 out of 70 seats, while the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was reduced to 22 seats.
Damaged road sections require urgent repair
The initiative is expected to bring significant improvements in road quality by ensuring senior officials are actively involved in maintenance efforts. Earlier this month, the PWD set an April 30 deadline to repair 7,000 potholes across Delhi. The department has been filling potholes using its maintenance vans and has identified 20 lakh square meters of damaged road sections requiring urgent repairs. The tendering process for these repairs is expected to conclude by March 15.