Repairs to begin to make Delhi pothole-free by Diwali: CM Atishi

The BJP, however, said the government response had come too late.

The newly appointed Chief Minister said she and her five ministers have taken responsibility for different parts of Delhi for a week, “where we will personally go to the ground, inspect and see what work needs to be done on which road”.

As an MLA from Kalkaji, Atishi will visit South and Southeast Delhi, while Environment Minister Gopal Rai will inspect roads in Northeast Delhi. Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot will inspect roads in West and Southwest Delhi, Saurabh Bharadwaj in East Delhi and Imran Hussain will visit Central Delhi. Roads in North and Northwest Delhi have been assigned to Mukesh Ahlawat.

The decision comes days after former chief minister and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal inspected some road stretches in Delhi University’s North Campus and later wrote to Atishi to begin repair work on a war footing. He also raised the matter on the first day of the recently concluded Assembly session.

“In the past two days, Kejriwal ji and I went to different parts of the city to inspect the condition of roads. We found several stretches in the city are broken and are not in good shape. Several potholes have developed due to the rain… at several points, roads were dug by different agencies such as the Delhi Jal Board, BSES or Tata Power… but roads were not repaired after the completion of the work,” Atishi, who also holds the PWD portfolio, said.

An hour-long all-ministers meeting was held Sunday, the CM said, adding, “… a comprehensive review of 1400 km of PWD roads was done to find out which roads are completely broken and need to be rebuilt and also stretches where only 100-200 metres of the road are broken… We also covered roads where a large number of small potholes have been developed.”

Notably, PWD manages 1400 km of key arterial stretches, Ring Road and Outer Ring Road, while colony roads are managed by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.

Ahead of the G20 Summit last September, authorities identified about 6,224 potholes in Delhi. Of these, 2,146 were found under the jurisdiction of PWD and 4,078 under MCD.

“We keep repairing potholes as we receive complaints but a large number of potholes and cracks have developed on roads due to unprecedented rain this year,” said a senior PWD official, adding that repairs will begin from October as monsoon is over.

Hitting out at the AAP, Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva said: “The Arvind Kejriwal government, during its tenure, remained disconnected from the city’s problems and its people. As the time for the main examination approached, Kejriwal resigned to avoid accountability and has put forward Atishi to face the anti-incumbency wave.”

“Her situation today is like that of a student who doesn’t study all year but tries to cram everything the night before the exam to succeed,” he added.

AAP, however, said work was stalled because the BJP wanted to tarnish AAP’s image and Kejriwal was implicated in a false case. “Now that he has been released, he will ensure all work is done,” the party said.

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