Irked by poor roads, residents of Ardee warn they won’t vote

Gurgaon: Residents of Ardee City are saying that they will boycott the Lok Sabha elections over bad roads in the area. The builder has not paid heed to their issues regarding the same for years.
Around 2,300 residents live in Ardee City and many of them complained about wheels of vehicles getting stuck in potholes and craters on the internal roads of the society.

Some residents even claimed that they received spinal injuries after travelling on the bad roads.

Speaking to TOI, residents said that the bad roads had been taking a huge toll on them.

“We have been suffering due to these roads for close to eight years now,” said Praveen Yadav, president, Residents Welfare Association, Ardee City.

He added, “It is becoming increasingly difficult to travel on these roads. The builder should repair the roads because it is part of the terms and conditions of its licence. Roads come under mandatory services and it has to not only construct but also carry out maintainence work on a regular basis.”

Residents told TOI that most of the internal roads were in a bad condition. “We have five blocks in Ardee City — B, C, D, E, and C1 — and most of the internal roads in these blocks require immediate attention. Anyone using the roads will realise how difficult it is to drive through them. My mother has been facing health issues because of the rocking she has to endure during rides,” said Seema, a resident of B block.

While the builder had re-carpeted the roads in the recent past, said residents, it was poor quality work and the cover had worn away in a just three months. “Last year, some patches of the roads were re-carpeted but the work was clearly not up to standards,” said Atul, another resident, adding, “Whatever was laid on the roads did not last. There has to be some sort of accountability for such work.”

Last year, the Ardee City RWA took over the maintenance work from the builder. “But we have jurisdiction over non-mandatory services only,” a senior member of RWA said. “Roads involve heavy-duty work and require more money. The builder is responsible for the roads here. MCG has also not provided any assistance even though we pay property taxes.”

MCG officials told TOI that they couldn’t do anything in Ardee City since the society was still with the private builder.

Ardee City officials said that most residents were not paying the maintenance fees and despite that, they had been carrying out repair work on several roads in the township.