New Delhi: In a first, senior officials of the Public Works Department (PWD) in Delhi will now be responsible for monitoring and ensuring the upkeep of specific road stretches across the city, a senior official said on Sunday. To overcome the poor shape of the roads across the national capital, it has been decided to engage all senior officers of PWD, up to the rank of superintendent engineers, to adopt at least one stretch of PWD road, a senior PWD official told PTI on Monday.
“It has been observed that many stretches of PWD roads in Delhi lack the desirable appearance due to issues like maintenance of the carriageway, footpaths, kerbs and the central verge. To overcome these issues, it has been decided to engage all senior officers of PWD, up to the rank of Superintendent Engineers, to adopt at least one stretch of PWD road of their choice for this purpose,”
the official said.
An Excel sheet containing the names of officials has been shared, and officials have been asked to submit their choice of three road stretches within seven days. “Subsequently, an official will be allotted one stretch to monitor it and provide valuable feedback to the concerned executing officials. This feedback will be shared over the E-Monitoring App and followed up for compliance,” the official added.
The initiative is aimed at improving the overall condition of roads under the PWD’s jurisdiction by involving senior officials in regular monitoring and maintenance efforts.
Earlier this month, the PWD set a deadline of April 30 to fill 7,000 potholes across Delhi.
According to the PWD, potholes are being filled using department maintenance vans. Additionally, the department has identified 20 lakh square meters of road patches that require repairs. The tender process for these repairs is expected to be completed by March 15, with the completion target also set for April 30.
The poor condition of roads was a key issue in the recent Delhi Assembly elections. Parvesh Sahib Singh, the PWD minister in the newly formed BJP government, is overseeing the 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.