News Brief
1,400 Km Road Upgrade In Delhi Within Two Years: PWD Begins Repairs On 250 Km, Sets Year-End Target Of 600 Km
Road in Delhi
The Delhi Public Works Department (PWD) has unveiled an ambitious plan to recarpet and restrengthen 1,400 km of arterial roads in Delhi over the next two years, with over Rs 3,000 crore allocated for this year alone, Hindustan Times reported.
“We have already made provisions in the budget this year of over Rs 3,000 crore to revamp over 400 km of roads this year. However, we plan to stretch it by another 200 km and ensure that around 600 km are covered this year, while the rest will be taken up next year,” Delhi PWD minister Parvesh Verma said at a press conference.
The minister stressed that contractors will be held accountable post-construction.
Once a road stretch is redeveloped, the contractor will be accountable for its upkeep for a period of five years, during which any potholes that emerge must be repaired at no additional cost for at least the first two-and-a-half years.
PWD officials noted that repair work has already commenced on 250 km of major roads including Ring Road, Outer Ring Road, Vikas Marg, Noida Link Road, Rani Jhansi Marg, Boulevard Road, Mehrauli Mahipalpur Road, Mehrauli Badarpur Road, Ravi Das Marg, Guru Govalkar Marg, and Kanjhawala road, with completion expected before July.
Highlighting challenges, officials said only three to four months a year are conducive for road construction due to pollution curbs and weather constraints.
“Road work practically begins only in March… but is stopped multiple times due to high pollution levels and implementation of Grap,” an official explained.
Repair work is further complicated by night-only access for heavy vehicles, traffic restrictions, and VIP route limitations. Still, the department aims to complete repairs on 7,000 potholes and over 200,000 square metres of patchwork by the end of April.
