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MCD Told to Hand Over Urban Roads By February-End

  • The Municipal Corporation of Delhi  (MCD) has started the process of handing over roads, with a width of over 60 feet, to the Public Works Department (PWD).
  • Delhi chief  secretary PK Tripathi said the government had asked the MCD to hand over all such roads to the PWD  within a month.
  • “The  process  of  taking  over  these  roads has started. We had recently written a letter to the MCD commissioner to hand over all such roads to us by February end,” Tripathi said.
  • Of the 27,000 kilometres of road network the MCD maintains, about 10% are arterial  roads of 60 feet or more. The Delhi Cabinet had decided to take over these roads in December last year.
  • According to Delhi  government officials,  a number of complaints about  the poor upkeep of MCD roads forced them to take such a decision.
  • “Most of these roads are in a bad state and full of potholes, making it difficult  for motorists. We decided to take urban roads under our  jurisdiction  so  that they can be maintained properly,” said a senior Delhi government official.
  • Cutting  across  party  line, a large number of MLAs – especially from assembly segments in outer Delhi – had raised the issue of poor maintenance of connecting roads in the city.
  • The MLAs had also complained that the MCD often diverted money given for the maintenance of roads by the urban development department.
  • The  government had then brought a resolution in the house to take over all the arterial  roads that were being maintained by the MCD and spend Rs 120 crore —–  which  is given to the civic agency for infrastructure maintenance — for the upkeep of these roads.

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