Cash-strapped MC likely to hand over 68 roads to UT

Reeling under a severe financial crisis, the Municipal Corporation (MC) has proposed to transfer all 68 V3 roads to the UT Administration for recarpeting and maintenance. The proposal will be tabled at the General House meeting on Tuesday.

The V-3 roads connect the sectors to the main roads. The regular grid formed by these roads define each sector's boundary.

According to MC officials, the agenda item was discussed at a meeting held on March 20. It was proposed that all V-3 roads under the jurisdiction of the MC's Building & Roads (B&R) wing will be transferred to the UT Engineering Department for recarpeting and maintenance. Unable to carry out road maintenance due to the shortage of funds, these main roads of 262 km in length need immediate attention. As per the norms, after physical verification, the roads are recarpeted every five years and as such nearly 1/5th of the total length of these roads requires recarpeting every year, stated officials, adding that recarpeting was pending for the past three years.

A sum of nearly Rs 26 crore is required for the work, as per the agenda of the meeting. At present, the civic body maintains a road network of 2,000 km throughout the city.

The other agenda items to be tabled in the meeting include charging private firms a fee for advertising and maintaining 35 roundabouts across the city. According to the MC, a request for proposal (RFP) has been prepared. There will be a licence fee per month per roundabout to be offered to the highest bidder. The fee will be increased at the rate of 10% per annum.

To resolve the issue of pending fire safety certificates, the MC plans a six-month validity for applications. During that period, applicants can remove discrepancies to obtain the NOC, failing which the application will be automatically revoked and the fee forfeited.

Plantation plans at Dadu Majra dump

The Finance and Contract Committee of the Municipal Corporation will take up the agenda proposing plantation of trees and shrubs at the Dadu Majra dumping ground at a cost of Rs 32 lakh. The meeting is scheduled for Monday. According to the agenda, there is a need for beautification of the dumping ground by carrying out landscaping. As such, shrubs and other saplings will be planted along the boundary wall of the dump over the next six months.