Heavy penalty, FIR if agencies leave roads unrepaired for 15 days

FIR MAY BE FILED AGAINST AGENCIES THAT DON’T FIX ROADS PROPERLY AFTER DIGGING THEM

The bumpy ride on Delhi’s roads may soon become a thing of the past as the city government has decided to levy a hefty penalty, which may even extend to a FIR, if a road is not repaired even 15 days after digging work is completed.

Delhi chief secretary MM Kutty held a meeting with civic bodies and agencies, which often dig roads to shift utilities such as water, gas pipelines or electricity-related work, and told them about the action that can be taken.

“It has been decided that the agency, which is digging the road, will pay the fine to the road owning agency. If the repair is not completed within 15 days there will be a nominal fine of Rs 1,000 and after 30 days, the agency/contractor will have to pay the 25% of the road repair charges. The charges will increase to 50% after 45 days,” said a government official, requesting anonymity.

“After 90 days, other action will be taken such as blacklisting them or filing FIR,” he said.

Some road-cutting agencies in Delhi are MTNL, IGL, BRPL, TPDDL and DJB that dig road for utility services while road owning agencies such as the PWD, New Delhi Municipal Council, the three Municipal Corporations and National Highways Authority of India also do the digging for construction.

The agencies that dig roads for utilities pay the money to the road owning agencies and they do the restoration. The road owning agencies have been asked to keep a contractor ready before the digging work is completed to avoid delay.

“Earlier, there was no penalty and that is why, after digging, roads were not maintained properly. After this, we hope that fearing penalty, the agencies will repair the work soon after the work is completed,” said a PWD official.

Last year, for better coordination with agencies, which dig roads to lay sewer lines or fibre cables, the government started issuing permissions online.

Government also plans serious action against those who start work without permission.

“If any agency executes the work without permission for the first time, it will be debarred for three months. If the second offence is committed within one year of the first offence, the ban will be for six months. If the agency does it for the third time within two years of the first offence, the agency will be banned for a year. Apart from this, FIR will be lodged against the agency and the contractor,” the official said.

Also, the contractor will have to pay double the amount of road restoration charges.

The online system has ensured quick approval from the PWD and other road owning agencies development work. However, restoration of the same road is still a big concern.