‘Make roads pothole-free by Diwali’

Lucknow: Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday directed officials to ensure that all roads in state are made pothole-free before Diwali.
"It is the responsibility of all of us to make walking on roads a pleasant experience for the common man," Adityanath said while reviewing the works of public works department (PWD) and other government departments that are responsible for building and maintaining roads.
He said all new roads that will come up in the state must have a shelf-life of at least five years and in case of any defect or damage, the department concerned would be held accountable. Adityanath also instructed all departments to ensure that the road building agency or contractor also takes the responsibility of maintaining it for five years after its construction. Apart from national highways authority of India, nine UP government departments are involved in maintaining the road network. And out of the 4.45 lakh km of roads, PWD singlehandedly maintains close to 3 lakh km. The nine UP departments and NHAI have set a target of 75,000 km of road repairs in the state for this year.
“The target will be revised post-monsoon. The damaged roads would be repaired after the survey once the monsoon starts withdrawing,” said a senior official of the PWD.
The CM pointed out before the officials that stretches where major infrastructure projects have been commissioned in the recent past like metro corridors, elevated roads and flyovers, the service and adjacent lanes are left unattended and remain riddled with potholes for months.
“The reason for the delay in the repair for such stretches occur as the budgetary provisions are made in the next financial year,” said a senior officer. The departments have been asked to include such works within a short span of time.
The officials were also asked to ensure that no criminal element and mafia gets a chance to participate in government contracts.
Yogi also asked the officials to take proper steps in managing stray dog population.
The work and progress being made by various departments pertaining to improving and augmenting the road network is going to be linked and integrated with the PM GatiShakti portal.