|
|
Peace Road in Ranchi remains a picture of chaos on Tuesday, thanks to tardy construction of a drain. Picture by Hardeep Singh
|
Be it large development projects in the state or modest drain laying work in the capital, delay is Jharkhand’s middle name.
An agency engaged by the Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) to construct a drain along Peace Road — a kilometre-long stretch that links Lalpur with Dangratoli Chowk — is working at snail’s pace, leaving perilous mounds of soil and concrete everywhere in the process.
While the road remains blocked because of this tardy pace of construction, commuting has become a nightmare for residents. “Half of the road is dug up. We are having a tough time. Only a few workers are engaged in the project. How can you expect work to finish on time?” said Barun Roy, who lives on Peace Road.
The civic body has earmarked a corpus of Rs 4 crore for 42 drains along different roads across the capital. For the job, it has selected more than two dozens agencies.
The situation at Dangratoli Chowk on Purulia Road is no different from Peace Road. A trench was dug up seven days ago, turning the road into a mucky mess in the name of drainage. But, the project has made little progress till date.
“Slow construction is a nightmare. There is mud everywhere. The road doesn’t look like a road,” said Pramod Verma, an elderly resident.
The drain work here is being carried out by PWD. “After digging, we allow the sides to dry for a while before layering it with concrete. Hence, the delay,” said U.P. Sinha, an engineer of the department.
While construction on these two roads has started, that of others remains a distant dream.
“We will look into the issue. If agencies are delaying work intentionally and putting residents in problem, we will ask them to speed up work,” said A.S. Deol, chairperson of RMC’s public works and engineering committee.
|
