Commuters will have to wait till the end of monsoon for a smooth travel as completion of the BT and CC road laying work across the city is expected to be accomplished only by then. Though rain has played truant, work is not likely to be completed before October-end, owing to a variety of reasons.
Officials from GHMC say with regard to 41 packages, which have been sanctioned and work is going on, only one layer of black topping is done, as against the required two layers. Another layer will be done after monsoon, as any rain might hamper the work.
Earlier, work sanctioned in 52 packages were to be completed before the onset of monsoon. Due to delay in tendering, the work began late, and the deadline was extended to October end eventually, as monsoons are feared to hamper the works. “As of now, only footpath and table drain works are on. The final BT layer will be laid only after monsoon,” says an official.
One reason for the delay is the pending bills of close to ₹100 crore, he says. A total of 15 to 20 agencies have been given the works. Work is yet to be started with regard to eight packages, though tenders have been finalised, and one package with three works of ₹20 lakh each, has not got tenders even after six calls.
CC road laying works of ₹303 crore have been sanctioned in 66 packages, but only 23 are in progress. With regard to 15 others, tendering has been completed, and work is yet to start, while three works have not found any takers so far, even after multiple tender calls.
Ongoing pipeline laying works by the Hyderabad Metro Water Supply and Sewerage Board are another reason for the delay, the official says. “Where new water lines were laid, thousands of connections are to be given to the households, which entails massive digging of roads. Laying roads in these areas will be futile,” he says.