Residents raise questions over carpeting of road

With many streets across the city crying for repair, the municipal corporation (MC) has failed to pay attention towards even those roads that are being carpeted.

The residents of Durgapuri in Haibowal Kalan have raised questions of the carpeting of a street (Mandir wali Gali) that leads to a temple. They alleged that the road was not being levelled properly during carpeting work going on in the area.

The residents also claimed that some part of the road was carpeted on Saturday night when there was no proper light, which indicates that work was not done properly. Also they expressed their dissatisfaction over working of MC officials who allegedly failed to inspect the work.

It is pertinent to mention here that no junior engineer of MC was present in Durga Puri on Sunday afternoon when carpeting work was going on in another street.

On being asked about the road leading to temple, an MC employee, who was present there, claimed that they were carpeting the road in the best possible manner, and it could not be done in a way better than that.

Meanwhile, the members of Brotherhood Society, an organisation for area welfare, have also demanded from the MC commissioner that inspection of newly carpeted road be conducted and samples should be collected for testing.

A resident, Arvind Sharma, said, “The MC authorities should visit the area to check quality of material being used for carpeting.”

Earlier, the residents of Chander Nagar had also complained that the roads were being carpeted in haste.

An RTI activist, Kuldeep Singh Khaira, said, “MC generally carpets the roads during holidays, especially Saturday and Sunday, when the officials concerned are not on duty. But, the work should be conducted only in presence of the engineers, as the tax payers’ amount is being spent on such works, and it should be spent for their benefit.”

On the other hand, the MC officials have denied the allegations. MC sub-divisional officer (SDO) Surinder Singh said, “The road is being carpeted in well manner. If any material was laid in more quantity, then it will get corrected itself. The allegations levelled by the residents are baseless.”