The Hindu : New Delhi News : Bill to check road-cutting

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Thursday, Jul 19, 2007
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New Delhi

Bill to check road-cutting

Staff Reporter

To provide for stringent action against all defaulting agencies

Delhi Government has imposed a ban on
road-cutting in view of the rainy season
It leads to accumulation of debris, resulting to obstructions and accidents on roads

NEW DELHI: With most civic agencies neglecting orders against road-cutting, the Delhi Government is planning to introduce a Bill in the State Assembly to check the illegal practice, Urban Development and PWD Minister A.K. Walia said on Wednesday. The legislation, he said, would provide for stringent action against all defaulting agencies.

Presiding over a meeting that was attended by senior officials of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, Public Works Department, Delhi Jal Board, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited, other private telecom companies and Indraprastha Gas Limited, the Minister expressed concern at the incidence of road-cutting despite the ban imposed by the Delhi Government in view of the rainy season. He said such illegal operations also lead to accumulation of debris, resulting to obstructions and accidents on roads.

The Minister said various agencies had been undertaking road-cutting with dig-and-restore technique and in most cases the roads are not being restored properly thereafter. “This,” he said, “leads to disruption in smooth flow of traffic. As such, the practice is not in consonance with the concept of developing a city of international repute like Delhi.”

The attitude of the agencies engaged in road-cutting, Dr Walia said, was detestable and would in no way help in the preparations being made for the 2010 Commonwealth Games that would seek to showcase Delhi as a world class city. He said not only was road-cutting taking place despite the existing ban and without informing road-owning agencies, even the trench-less technology was not being employed effectively and therefore many cases of damage to underground service lines and cables have been reported.

The Minister directed all the agencies concerned to submit a list of road-cuttings undertaken using the “dig and restore” technique during the past one year. The departments have been directed to provide within 15 days full details of road-cuttings along with present status, which include date of permission, date of start of road-cutting, amount deposited and status of restoration among other things. They have also been instructed to place the list along with all details on the website of the MCD, which maintains 28,000 km of roads, and the PWD, which looks after 398 km of roads, to ensure transparency and accountability.

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