Agencies that have been carrying out road-cutting and not restoring them would now face the ire of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi which has decided to come down heavily against such agencies by registering FIRs against them.
The issue of road-cutting was raised at the Standing Committee meeting on Wednesday wherein municipal councillors alleged that a number of roads in the city were in a bad shape as the Delhi Jal Board has been carrying out digging work to lay or repair sewer and water pipes but not pay the civic body the required amount of money to carry out repair of the roads.
Municipal Commissioner K. S. Mehra said: “For every road that they dig, they pay about Rs. 5-10 crore while the actual amount required to repair them is about Rs.70-80 crore. There is a huge gap between the two and we end up suffering as the roads remain in a bad condition.”
He further stated that that the civic agency was discussing the matter with the Chief Secretary to fix a standard rate at which road cutting would be permitted to the DJB and other agencies such as power distribution companies so that the cost of road repair is taken care of.
Standing Committee chairman Yogender Chandolia said that in Kalkaji five roads are being dug by the DJB but no money has been deposited with the civic body till now.