Incomplete paver block work in Chandigarh irks residents; commuters at risk

Incomplete work of paver blocks in different areas of the city is not only ruining the aesthetics of the city, but also causing inconvenience to residents. They allege that contractors had removed old paver blocks, but failed to replace them with new ones at many places, leaving the areas prone to accidents.

One can see many places in the city where old paver blocks have been removed and the contractors have left the work incomplete.

Kulmeet Singh Sodhi, president of the Residents Welfare Association, Sector 40, said the laying of paver blocks was going on in Sector 40-D for a long time. Despite that, the work has not finished yet, causing a lot of problems to residents.

Broken paver blocks and debris are lying everywhere, presenting an ugly look. These can even cause injuries to pedestrians and commuters. He said five months had passed and the work had not been completed. The paver blocks have also been removed in Sectors 20 and 34 at many places.

Sunita Sharma, a resident of Sector 47, said that the same situation prevailed in Sector 47-D market, Chandigarh. The work of the paver blocks has not been completed yet. Old paver blocks have been lying there for months, causing accidents at times. Paver blocks have also been removed opposite nearby parks.

Krishan Sachedev, another resident of the city, suggested that there was a need to bring transparency and accountability in the work carried out by the Municipal Corporation. He said that signboards must be put up at such sites, mentioning the name of the contractors and their contact numbers, work order, tender value, date of allotment and expected date of completion, scope of the work, defect liability, warranty period of the work and name of the MC officer/department concerned.

This will also make it easier for the public to know who has been awarded the work, how much public money has been sanctioned, and for how long the contractor is responsible for the quality of the work. Since these works are being carried out with public money, the public has every right to know these details.

The MC office concerned should also inspect the site and verify whether the allotted work has actually been completed as per specifications and whether the full payment has already been released to the contractor. Such simple measures can significantly improve transparency, accountability and public confidence in MC works.

Another resident said that the Municipal Corporation must ensure that the allotted work was completed in a time-bound manner. A system should be put in place to oversee the work.

RK Garg, a social activist, said that the indiscriminate laying of these paver blocks also violated the character of the city. The MC is laying concrete paver blocks without any proper survey, he said, and added that such work would reduce pedestrian space and cause more flooding during the rainy season. He said there was a sudden surge in projects related to laying of paver blocks all over the city.

At the last three meetings of the General House, paver block projects worth over Rs 10 crore have been passed in different sectors and colonies. Saurabh Joshi, Mayor, said that he would issue directions to the authorities concerned to complete the works in time.