[ 15 Aug, 2006 0339hrs ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
PUNE: While Puneites are facing a harrowing time — thanks to the infamous pothole-ridden roads — another glaring example of the lackadaisical approach of civic babus towards executing budgeted road works has come to light.
The civic road department has failed to execute 10 major road projects in the city, even though contractors for these projects were shortlisted between October 2005 and January 2006.
A whopping Rs 55 crore had been set aside for the job. In an official reply to BJP corporator Ujjwal Keskar, the civic road department has admitted that so far, it has been able to spend just Rs 2.71 crore of the allotted Rs 55 crore.
Interestingly, Rs 2.4 crore (of the Rs 2.71 crore spent so far) has been issued as “mobilisation advance” to contractor S.A. Patel for constructing the Nagar road section between the Ramwadi octroi post to PMC road.
“The contractor has not yet started the work,” Keskar said. “This means the amount spent for actual road works is just Rs 31 lakh.”
Last week, the administration had admitted that 25 roads — which it had repaired at a cost of Rs 22 crore — are in a bad state. Now it has acknowledged that despite the provision of Rs 55 crore, work hasn’t begun.
The end result: miserable roads. Keskar said there was a possibility that the civic standing committee or the general body may have delayed the actual work orders.
“It is the responsibility of the civic chief and the ruling party to release the actual work orders,” he said.
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