Only 22.73% cement rd works completed: Standing panel

Nagpur: The work to convert tar roads into cement ones is taking a toll on daily commutes on 64 roads.
“Of the 89 roads covering 81.68 km under phase-I and phase-II, the civic body could complete only 22.73% work,” said standing committee chairman Sandip Jadhav on Tuesday. The incomplete road work or the sluggish pace at which the work is being undertaken is putting motorists to a lot of inconvenience.

However, the standing committee on Tuesday approved an executive engineer;s (public works department) proposal to start cement concretization of city roads, which will cover 28 roads at a cost of Rs 156.86 crore. These roads will be covered under the third phase, said Jadhav, adding that the NMC will convert 39 tar roads (41.5km) under the phase.

Referring to the data provided by the NMC’s public works department, Jadhav said that under phase-I, the NMC had selected 30 different stretches totalling 26.26km of tar roads to be converted into cement concretization. But till date, the private contractor could complete only 9.95km of roads that covered 14 stretches.

He said five roads are under progress, while the work on six stretches was cancelled due to various reasons. The work on five roads was delayed due to Metro rail works, Jadhav said.

Officiating chief engineer Manoj Talewar admitted that lack of funds is affecting the progress of cement road work. Due to non-payments, even the contractors converting 55.42km roads under phase-II cement concretization work has been able to complete only 12.6km of roads from one end to the other. But the contractors have failed to complete remaining works of footpaths, dividers etc, he said.

To a query, Jadhav claimed that the NMC will ensure speedy completion of cement road works.

The truth of the matter, however, is that Nagpur’s motorists are paying a heavy price for slow progress that left many roads incomplete, losing precious time and health, stuck for hours in traffic every day. Even the city buses have changed their routes, which has greatly inconvenienced some of the residents.