Citizens blame corruption for bad roads

[karira]

As reported by Radhika Oberoi of TNN in timesofindia.indiatimes.com on 20 August 2008:
Citizens blame corruption for bad roads-Delhi-Cities-The Times of India

Citizens blame corruption for bad roads

NEW DELHI: If potholes, cracks and sudden depressions on the road seem to be part of your everyday commute in the city, it's time to shake off the apathy and ask MCD a few awkward questions. Like Mohit Goel, a resident of Model Town did when the recent patchwork repair undertaken by MCD began to disintegrate.

Or as did S P Gupta, general secretary, Residents Welfare Association, Old Rajinder Nagar, when he found that the road in front of Salwan School had broken down despite it being converted from "dense carpet" to "cement concrete" — a kind of road that simply should not crumble.

Both Mohit Goel and S P Gupta took recourse to RTI. They wanted to know who was responsible for the shoddy work. Not just that, both obtained permission to take a sample of the road and get it examined by the Shriram Institute for Industrial Research.

The results were not entirely unexpected. In both cases the contractors had used less cement than required. The road in front of Salwan School, for instance, used only half the required quantity; gravel and sand were added in much higher proportion. As for the Model Town road, the proportions were all wrong.

Needless to say, the contractors had made a killing by using inferior materials. But what about the MCD officials who were supposed to supervise the work? They winked at it, raising suspicions of collusion. As it happens, in the Salwan School road case, the RWA has filed an FIR against MCD.

If roads are being reduced to rubble in the city, the heavy downpour might be a part of the reason. But the real reason possibly is one of the worst kept secrets of the city — there is rampant corruption in road construction. But it's not something that the authorities are ready to accept, even though Goel and Gupta have virtually proved it.

Coming back to Goel, he sought answers this April, under RTI, on the road in front of his house in Model Town. He asked for an inspection of the area under the supervision of an engineer, a measurement book (with road dimensions), as well as samples of road material in the vicinity of his home, for a ratio analysis test.

As a result of his query, he found out that the total estimated cost of building the 96.50 metre x 5.13 metre stretch was Rs 6 lakh.