The technical specifications, including the raw material used to build the roads, have cost the engineering wing of the Chandigarh civic body more on the exchequer, even though the work could be completed with a lesser amount. Even after spending the money, the pits remain.
The National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research had informed the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation that the cost of the roads was almost double the requirement, adhering to the specifications.
He also suggested a system which has low cost with proper specifications.
NITTTR was hired by the then Municipal Commissioner KK Yadav after the roads deteriorated very quickly. NITTTR was entrusted with the task of ensuring tailor-made solutions for each area road, strengthening roads, providing cost-effective solutions and overseeing quality control.
For example, in a project allotted for a concrete road worth over Rs 1 crore in the motor market, NITTTR provided a revised set of specifications.
It was later discovered that after making it available, there was a saving of more than Rs 56 lakh, as it was allotted only for Rs 43.65 lakh.
There are many more clauses where NITTTR suggested that scarification should be dropped after allotment and execution of works.
Usually, when a road breaks down, the engineering wing randomly lays a 30 mm layer of bitumen on the roads, without actually checking whether it works well with a thin layer of the same on the surface or No. And can save public money. as well.
Even with the Maintenance Management System as suggested by NITTTR, cost comparison was made between the existing maintenance practice used by MCs and that suggested by NITTTR. There was a lot of difference between the two.
The cost comparison between the two practices clearly showed that the current maintenance practice used by MC Chandigarh spends around Rs 84 lakh in maintaining the one kilometer long section.
However, if the suggested maintenance method of NITTTR is implemented, the civic body will have to spend only Rs 58 lakh over a period of 20 years. Using existing maintenance practices, the road agency spent about 1.31 times more than what was suggested.
“Civil body officials who do 30 mm bitumen coating at Rs 252 per square metre. The same can be done in 15 mm coating, with only Rs 148 per square metre,” said a senior NITTTR official.
Go deep into the pits spent over Rs 100 crore
The Chandigarh Administration has been giving grants worth crores of rupees to the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation for roads over the years. However, the funds in the pits of City Beautiful seem to be running low.
In 2018, the Chandigarh Administration released Rs 50 crore for the redevelopment of roads. The situation was so dire that despite spending Rs 50.73 crore on the roads, potholes and potholes were visible.
In December 2019, again under the leadership of the then administrator VP Singh Badnore, the Chandigarh Administration gave another grant of Rs 50 crore to the civic body. Due to the cold weather, the work could not be done immediately. Later, in March 2020, officials said that they were to start the recarpeting work, which was further postponed due to Covid.
More than Rs 100 crore has been spent on repairing the roads of Chandigarh in the last five years, but the amount spent is not visible at all considering the dilapidated roads, giving a pleasant experience to the commuters.
Vinod Vashisht, convener of the City Forum of Residents Welfare Sangathan, said, “In many parts of the city, roads are not running for even three years, probably due to lack of any quality check in regular practice. Is. As of now the city has its own C&D (construction and demolition) waste plant and the authorities should start using C&D product which is meant for carpeting work on the road and save huge cost incurred in road works.