Action plan for road maintenance

Bhopal, May 06: The Minister for Public Works Department Kailash Vijayvargiya has directed the senior officers to immediately draw up and execute an action plan to prevent formation of potholes and cracks on roads during rainy season.

All the officials from Chief Engineer to Sub Engineer must inspect the roads on a war footing to make assessment of road conditions and eliminate the causes responsible for formation of potholes during rainy season. Water should not be allowed to collect on and along the roads. After one spell of rains the inspections should be repeated and wherever potholes and cracks are found these should be patched up, he added. The Minister was reviewing road construction and maintenance activities with special stress on the progress under State Road Improvement Programme (SRIP) at a meeting with senior officials here yesterday. Principal Secretary, Public Works Department PD Meena; Managing Director of State Road Development Corporation Mohammad Suleman; Secretary SK Mitana; Engineer-in-Chief SK Dixit; all Superintending Engineers, Chief Engineers and other concerning officers attended the meeting.

The Minister said that the creditable work done in last four years for improvement of roads in Madhya Pradesh is being widely appreciated. It has to be ensured that this image is maintained during and after rainy season. The Minister was all praise for the improvement work carried out on National Highways under SRIP. The Chief Engineer, National Highways Shailendra Shukla informed that so far, 252 km length of the National Highways has been improved and the little remaining work would be completed by June. Under this programme improvement work has been carried out on 2238 km length. The Minister directed that no patch should be left unrepaired anywhere. He warned that surprise inspections would be undertaken and direct action would be taken wherever negligence or irregularities are found.

During the zone wise review Vijayvargiya said that the works should be completed as per schedule. The officers doing outstanding work would be appreciated in writing. Provision should be made to cancel the agreements of contractors failing to give progress as per stipulation. He reviewed the pre-monsoon preparations for safety on bridges. He directed the officials to ensure putting up of signboards and proper lighting arrangements on bridges. The garbage and filth under the bridges should be cleared. He directed to pay highest attention to quality of roads and bridges. The Minister said that the contractors responsible for de-sanction of works due to non-performance should be blacklisted.