Stating that promises of making better roads have gone down the potholes,the Delhi High Court has ordered the MCD,NDMC and PWD to conduct a survey of all roads in the city by mid-November and submit reports to a committee constituted to plan a time-bound programme for construction of high quality roads. The committee has been asked to take to task those responsible for the present chaos and complete mess. Justice Kailash Gambhir said: This court incessantly gave directions emphasising the importance of good roads in the hope that authorities would have mercy on the citizens of this city and prepare roads for the monsoon. But the ongoing monsoon. where sheaths of the surface of roads peeled off. has laid bare the fakeness of the claims of high technology being used,making evident that promises in affidavits have gone down the potholes. Ordering constitution of a committee to be headed by Justice (retired) Rekha Sharma,the court said that an independent agency was required to make things better for citizens in Delhi,considering that most claims made by the MCD,responsible for 94 per cent of roads in the city,did not match ground reality. The condition of roads continued to be very bad because of use of sub-standard material and a faulty drainage system. The roads,especially in the rainy season,lead to long,gruelling and unending traffic jams where vehicles crawl inch by inch,making it nothing less than a satanic curse for commuters. At the end of the day,these bodies are answerable to the hassled,miserable and pitied commuters who pay hefty sums as road tax in the anticipation and hope that roads do not stalk them but bestow pain-free travel. The callous authorities cannot dodge the responsibility by indulging in the blame game,when the commuter silently suffers, he said. The court asked the committee to fix liability of officials responsible for awarding contracts and making inspections. Officers from junior to high level. are either not taking their job seriously or some of these officers are hand-in-glove with the contractors in laying or relaying of substandard roads, Justice Gambhir said. Fixing November 1 for the first sitting of the committee,the court said the MCD will act as the nodal agency and its Commissioner will take the responsibility to supervise and monitor progress and implementation of the directions.
