5k in 10 days: MCG launches drive to fix craters on Gurgaon roads as plaints spike

Gurgaon: MCG on Wednesday announced a 10-day drive to make city roads pothole-free. The civic body set a target to fill at least 5,000 potholes in the first phase.This was decided in a detailed review of road-related complaints received on Haryana's road-grievance platform — Mhari Sadak. This comes days after TOI reported that 37% of all complaints on Mhari Sadak originated from the NCR cities of Gurgaon and Faridabad. At the meeting, additional commissioner Ankita Chaudhary gave clear instructions to the officials and engineers that complaints registered on the portal should be resolved with priority, promptness and quality. "Complaints are an important basis for the administration's accountability. Therefore, time-bound and effective disposal of each complaint is mandatory," the additional commissioner said.
Under the pothole-free campaign, the goal was set to improve road safety and provide better transportation facilities to the public. The additional commissioner said that, for the target to fill hundreds of potholes in the first phase of the campaign, concerned departments were directed to mobilise necessary resources and complete the work in a time-bound manner. She told the engineers that special attention should be paid to the quality of work so that repairs remain durable for a long time and citizens do not have to face problems repeatedly.TOI reported on Feb 11 that as of Feb 7, the Mhari Sadak app and portal received 8,204 complaints across Haryana. Of these, 1,482 were from Gurgaon and 1,522 from Faridabad — together nearly 3,004 complaints, an outsized share from just two cities. Even more troubling was the resolution rate. Data showed that more than 66% of Gurgaon's complaints remain unresolved: 982 out of 1,482 were still marked "in progress", while only 430 were addressed.At the review meeting on Wednesday, Chaudhary said that not only the Mhari Sadak portal, but all road-related complaints received on the complaint handling system (CHS) portal should also be resolved swiftly. She directed engineers to review all pending cases and dispose of them quickly on a priority basis. She said that providing better road facilities to citizens is the corporation's primary responsibility and no negligence in this regard will be tolerated.The corporation also appealed to residents that if they have information about potholes or other problems on roads, they should register complaints on the relevant portal so that timely action can be ensured. This step by MCG is significant in the direction of ensuring a better road system, safe traffic and smooth movement in the city, said MCG officials.On Tuesday, MCG also constituted a road development cell (RDC) to closely monitor infrastructure projects and ensure faster grievance redressal. For quicker redressal of complaints, the cell will track grievances received through various platforms, including the GMDA portal, the MCG mobile app and the Mhari Sadak platform.