Make UP roads pothole-free before Diwali: Adityanath to officials

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday instructed officials to launch a special campaign to make Uttar Pradesh’s roads pothole-free before Diwali, an official statement said.

Adityanath issued these instructions while chairing a meeting of various departments.

The monsoon this year has been unusual. There is a possibility of continuous rain in many districts in the coming days. Keeping this in mind, a state-wide campaign should be launched to make roads pothole-free before Diwali, the chief minister said.

There are about 4 lakh kilometres of roads under various departments like Public Works Department, National Highways Authority of India, Mandi Parishad, Irrigation, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Sugar Industry and Sugarcane Development, Housing, Infrastructure and Industrial Development, etc. in the state.

”It is the responsibility of all of us to make walking on roads a pleasant experience for the common man,” Adityanath said.

If a road is damaged due to projects like metro or expressway construction, the department concerned would be held responsible, he said.

After being briefed about the action plan for the campaign for pothole-free roads, the chief minister directed the departments concerned to focus on better planning and said there is no dearth of funds for it, the statement said.

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.

Terming engineers the ”backbone” of construction work, he said there should be no shortage of engineers anywhere and if necessary, they should be deployed through private agencies as well.

Instructing departmental ministers and officers to review construction projects by making random visits to the field and fixing accountability, the chief minister underlined the need for mechanized repair of roads rather than manual.

He also said that engineers should be posted only on the basis of merit.

The chief minister said that every department should ensure that people with criminal tendencies do not get a place in any public interest project. Their close relatives and gang operatives should also be kept away from contracts, he said.