'Surat Municipal Corporation engineers be made accountable for poor roads'

SURAT: With a view to bring a permanent solution to the deteriorating condition of the roads in Diamond City, the standing committee of Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) wants urban planners to fix responsibility of civic engineers for their negligence.
Chairman, standing committee, Rajesh Desai said road contractors are submitting tenders for metal grouting at the value below 50 per cent.It is the responsibility of the engineers of different municipal zones to check whether the contractors are using quality material for metal grouting work on internal and external roads of the city.
"The responsibility should be fixed for the engineers of civic body for not checking the metal grouting work done by the contractors. In most of the cases, the contractors submit lowest tenders and use low quality material leading to damages during the heavy rains," Desai said.
As per SMC statistics, around 3,650 square metre of roads in the internal areas of the city are damaged in the seven municipal zones. The civic body invites tender from the contractors for the metal grouting on the roads during the monsoon season.
A senior civic officer at Athwa zone said, "Engineers are required to check the metal grouting work done by the contractors on a regular basis. If the engineers are negligent then the contractors would use low grade material and perform improper grouting work, causing the roads to damage in a heavy downpour."