PWD TO STRENGTHEN ROADS
Concerned officials asked to ensure, before awarding works, whether any drain work is covered under jurisdiction of the Delhi Public Works Department
NEW DELHI: The Delhi government’s Public Works Department (PWD) will carry out strengthening of several roads and construct drains in various areas here before the onset of monsoon, when the national Capital often witnesses waterlogging.
The department has approved nearly Rs 4.93 crore for executing the work of strengthening of roads and construction of foothpaths and drains in various areas.
The administrative approval has been given for strengthening of various roads, foothpaths and drains at the Authority Road, Jankapuri, strengthening of Vedic Marg from Tihar Crossing to the community hall, 82 Block Sabzi Mandi Road, Najafgarh to Rajouri Garden (A-71) and among others.
“The officials concerned have been asked to ensure before awarding works that if any drain work comes under the jurisdiction of the PWD, design and execution of the same should be adequate and it should also be ensured that waterlogging does not take place,” an official said.
The official said tenders will soon be invited for executing the works under the approved cost.
“It will also be ensured that all the payments to contractors should made through digital mode,” the official said.
The principal chief engineer or the chief engineer will submit quarterly monitoring report of the projects, the official added.
Ahead of the monsoon, the PWD has set a target to complete the de-silting works by June 15.
Delhiites have to face waterlogging problem every monsoon.
There are around 165 major drains in the city.
Last year, the de-silting of drains had caused tussle between the government and bureaucracy, with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal seeking action against the then PWD Principal Secretary Ashwani Kumar for not obeying his order over de-silting of drains.
It may be mentioned here that last year, the Delhi Assembly’s Petitions Committee had recommended an inquiry against the PWD and Kumar, after it found that he had lied about the amount of work completed for cleaning drains ahead of monsoon.
As per the Committee’s report, the status report presented by Kumar – who told the committee that 60 per cent of the desilting work had been completed as on June 5, 2017 – “turned out to be bogus fabrication full of untruths”.
Both the PWD and the civic bodies gave similar reports to the Delhi High Court, which is hearing a writ petition on the issue.