After chief minister Ashok Gehlot
expressed dissatisfaction over the poor condition of roads, the local
self governance (LSG) department additional chief secretary GS Sandhu
has issued an order to all 185 municipal bodies, including the Jaipur
municipal corporation (JMC), to complete road repair work before June
30.

As per a plan, executive engineers have been appointed as
nodal officers in each city to carry out repair work of damaged and
withered roads.

“The municipal administration
will supervise the work and issued tender for the road work. The
department has also empowered the mayor and the CEO to spend Rs 2 crore
for road repairing work in each municipal corporation area. The
municipal council and boards could spend Rs 1 crore and Rs 50 lakh
respectively for the same,” the additional chief secretary’s order read.

The order further said the municipalities will have to spend the
relative amount by June 30. “As there is not much time left, directions
have been made to all civic bodies to start tender process next month.
The deputy directors have been directed to make inspection and tour to
the cities to examine the road repairing work and give feedback to
ensure vigilance,” a senior official said.

“The state
government spends a staggering amount every year on construction of
roads. However, this is not the solution and drainage system should be
improved in every city. Water logging, a malaise that has continued to
plague the cities road every monsoon, could become acute in the coming
years in the absence of an adequate drainage system,” the official said.

The official also said the unplanned manner in which the construction
of roads has been taken up is one of the major reasons for lack of an
efficient drainage system.

“As there was no integrated plan for
development of roads, they were widened in phases that disturbed the
drainage system. Now, authorities will face a bigger problem of building
drains with no space left on either side of the roads,” he added

Financial problems too have added to the woes of the civic authorities
struggling to develop a proper drainage system in these cities.