Paving of footpaths with interlocking tiles of little help

Manmeet Singh Gill

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Tribune News Service

Amritsar, November 24

With in a few months of paving of footpaths with interlocking tiles by the Local Bodies Department, many of these have started showing signs of deterioration due to lack of upkeep. Many of these footpaths lie broken as the soil underneath the tiles has washed away.

A few of these are covered with wild grass as the local administration has taken no measures for its maintenance. Many footpaths paved with interlocking tiles at the Government Medical College only a few months ago are entirely covered with wild grass.

At other places in the city the situation is not much different. Many footpaths have got damaged as soil beneath these was not properly pressed before laying of new tiles. The residents complained that sub-standard development should not be tolerated as the amount spent on such work was totally wasted.

Earlier, the Local Bodies Department had initiated the work of getting interlocking tiles installed on all footpaths and vacant spaces alongside roads in the city. The department’s craze for interlocking tiles was such that those footpaths, which were well maintained, were also dug up to lay new tiles.

A city-based mason Jagtar Singh said, “The interlocking tiles are required to be fixed on places where soil has been compressed properly. If the soil is loose, the tiles too will not stay fixed for long.”

The residents said the Local Bodies Department should initiate an inquiry and punish those guilty for not executing the work of laying interlocking tiles properly. “Damaging of footpaths in such a short span raises serious question marks on the quality of work done. The people who are responsible for it should be asked to pay the price,” said a resident Kamal Khanna.