Ranchi, Oct. 3: The pathetic condition of Jharkhand’s roads and the suffering of the people using them today found voice in the chief justice, who described as an “agonising experience” a recent trip to Hazaribagh from Ranchi by road.

Disgusted with the wretched condition of the roads, chief Justice M. Karpagavinyagam, while hearing a public interest litigation, wondered why Ranchi could not become like Singapore, or at the very least, Jamshedpur.

The chief justice was heading a division bench hearing a PIL on sewerage and road condition.

The judge, along with two senior colleagues —Justice M.Y. Eqbal and Justice Amareshwar Sahay — had gone to Hazaribagh last week to attend a plea bargaining camp organised for the first time in the state.

The chief justice said he turned down the offer of travelling in a helicopter and wanted to experience the difficulties of the commoners.

“A distance of 90 km seemed like travelling 900 km. The entire road is full of pits and falls and travelling by road is very tiring. All the judges had gone in one car and had a terrible time negotiating the battered road,” he said.

The observation of the bench comes days after a woman gave birth to an infant while she was being brought to the hospital. The newborn, however, could not survive the intense heat and died due to prolonged exposure on the open road.

The division bench headed by the chief justice and Justice Amareshwar Sahay also expressed concern on the cleanliness of the city. The bench proposed that certain areas of the city be handed over to private companies and social organisations who will look after the particular area.

The arrangement is working fine in Jamshedpur and Bokaro and should also click in the capital as well, the bench said.

The bench also observed that concrete solutions to the problems of the city is required. A permanent solution, and not paperwork, should be the need of the hour.

The advocate-general informed the court that underground sewerage plans have been made and are awaiting the nod of the cabinet for implementation. The plans have been made by a Singapore-based consultancy firm, advocate general S.B. Gadodia said.

Gadodia also informed the bench that a central government team comprising additional director-general for roads and chief engineer had visited the capital and surveyed the roads in the city.

The duo has identified 241 km of National Highway, which needs immediate repairs. The Union government is also keen to give a helping hand and will dole out Rs 102.09 crore for repairing the roads, the advocate-general said.

The bench, in order to maintain cleanliness in the city, asked the advocate-general to ensure that a grievance cell be set up in the Ranchi Municipal Corporation.

The phone numbers of the administrator or the chief medical officer of the corporation may be published in the newspapers so that complaints may be recorded directly from the public.

The bench also directed the Ranchi Municipal Corporation to publicise the cleanliness drive conducted in different parts of the capital. Loudspeakers and pamphlets may be used to inform people about the drive, which will be conducted in a particular area to ensure their participation in the programme, the bench said.