Nagpur: The shabby affairs being run in Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) have comer to the fore again, as anticipated. The speed in which the NMC announced construction of a network of cement roads left the citizens amazed. And the speed in which the cement roads bared their poor quality left the citizens stunned as well.
The situation has come to such a pass that a few cement roads are riddled with wide cracks and potholes and thus depict the ugly face of running the affairs not to mention the corruption. The cement road in focus is the one that was built from Reshimbagh Square to Jagnade Square.
The cement road is 1-2 year old but the condition tells that it is ancient. When the cement road was being built and when it was over, the NMC and the construction firm claimed from roof tops that the road will cross the age of 100 years without a ‘wrinkle’ on its face. Forget the wrinkle, the face of the cement road is dotted with wide cracks and holes that too within 1-2 years of its construction. The ugly face of the road forced the citizens demand a high-level quality probe into the construction through a reliable agency and stern action against the guilty NMC babus along with the construction firm.
15-16 cement roads worth Rs 300 crore in the pipeline:
Sources said that the coming days would see work orders being issued for construction of 15-16 cement roads at the cost of Rs 300 crore. The staggering amount is likely to be shared by NMC, NIT and State Government with Rs 100 crore each.
Ironically, there exists only one company in Nagpur that is rich in experience and capable of constructing cement roads. It is now certain that a number of outside companies would be seen building a few cement roads in their shoddy ways.
Nitin Gadkari could see red:
The Union Surface Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, who planned and constructed many a cement road in the city, always stressed the need for top quality in construction of cement roads.
Point was to avoid frequent construction of roads. However, now with the quality of cement roads depicting its ugly face, the Minister could be left red-faced, to say the least.
