The Public Works Department (PWD) has sought suggestions from its field staff to check recurrence of encroachments on roads lying under its jurisdiction in the Capital.
The PWD’s Engineer-in-Chief Rakesh Kumar Agrawal, according to a senior government official, has directed the Department’s field staff to be “vigilant” so that recurrence of encroachment does not recur. The said direction was issued at a recently held meeting that was chaired by Mr. Agrawal, according to the official. The PWD owns around 1,260-km roads in Delhi.
The anti-encroachment drives are being carried out in the city on the directions of a special task force that was formed by the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry. “All the field staff have been asked to give suggestions on how to check recurrence of encroachments on roads owned by the Public Works Department. They [field staff] know the ground reality. That is why they have been asked to send their suggestions to the engineer-in-chief,” the official said.
Providing logistics
The PWD is providing logistics to municipal corporations for removal of encroachments on its roads. “No field staff will issue any notice for removal of any encroachment on PWD roads. Such right lies with the civic bodies only. The PWD has to provide manpower and machinery for removal of encroachments,” the official said.
The minutes of the meeting stated, “Field staff should be regularly vigilant that recurrence of encroachment does not take place and if it happens again, the same may be reported to the special task force, the civic bodies and the Delhi Police for removal of the same.”
In January, several Aam Aadmi Party legislators had demanded from PWD Minister Satyendar Jain that the department be given powers to remove encroachments from roads to ensure smooth vehicular movement. “During the meeting, most of the MLAs demanded that the Public Works Department should be given power to remove encroachment which causes traffic congestion. At present, municipal corporations have such powers,” Mr. Jain had said.
