Hindustan Times (Ranchi)

‘Speedy’ road repair fans legal tussle between Delhi resident and MCD

- Risha Chitlangia risha.chitlangia@htlive.com

NEW DELHI: A kilometre-long stretch that connects Sabz Burj and BSF Club near Sunder Nursery in south Delhi’s Nizamuddin is at the heart of a legal tussle between a Delhi resident — who has demanded that roads in his neighbourh­ood (Kotla Mubarakpur) be recarpeted — and the erstwhile South Delhi Municipal Corporatio­n (now subsumed under the unified Municipal Corporatio­n of Delhi, or MCD).

Manjeet Singh Chugh, in a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed in the Delhi high court on April 5 claimed that the road, Bharat Scouts and Guides Marg, was recarpeted within “four days” in February this year because there was a “marriage function of a high dignitary in BSF Club” and “VIP movement” was expected.

The matter will be heard in the high court on May 30.

Senior MCD officials clarified that work was taken up because of the importance of the stretch, which passes by Humayun’s Tomb, Sunder Nursery and other institutio­ns and religious places.

Nearly 150,000 visit Humayun’s Tomb and Sunder Nursery every month, said a municipal official.

A senior MCD official said recarpetin­g and other work on the road was undertaken by the erstwhile SDMC on the “request of the Archaeolog­ical Survey of India (ASI)”.

The official said ₹70 lakh was spent on the project, the bids for which were invited on February 14, 2022.

Work orders were issued on February 18 and 19.

In the petition, Chugh, who is also president of the Gurudwara Shri Singh Sabha in Kotla Mubarakpur, urged the high court to direct the civic agency to relay the “pathetic” roads in Kotla Mubarakpur in the “same manner” and of the “same quality” as the road constructe­d in Nizamuddin.

“The said road was laid within four days as there was a marriage function of a high dignitary in BSF Club/Camp,” the plea said.

Speaking to HT, Chugh said, “Civic agencies always cite fund crunch when it comes to repairing colony roads and the tendering process often takes months. It is shocking to see how promptly the civic body acted in fixing the road in Nizamuddin for the VIP event.”

When contacted, the BSF spokespers­on didn’t comment about the event.

BSF also didn’t share the list of events held at the club in the month of February.

A senior municipal official said that the road is under the civic agency’s jurisdicti­on and was constructe­d two decades ago.

“It was in a dilapidate­d condition due to non-maintenanc­e on a regular basis,” said a municipal official.

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