Delhi govt's new road repair initiative triggers 'credit' war between AAP, LG. Here's why

A new road repair initiative undertaken by the Delhi government has created a tussle with the Delhi's Lieutenant Governor over who gets the credit. Just as the Delhi government announced its plans to implement a weekly action plan under which city roads will be regularly repaired, maintained and cleaned by the Public Works Department (PWD) and civic bodies, it has brought to the surface the simmering tussle between Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena and the AAP dispensation, this time over who should get the credit.

While announcing the action plan, the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said every Saturday, every agency will ensure that one road in each of its zones is repaired and spotlessly clean. This announcement of the campaign was followed by a statement from the lieutenant governor's office that he has hoped an order for repair, maintenance and cleaning of "one road per zone/division every week" issued on Thursday on his instruction will bring much-needed and long-pending relief to the residents and commuters of Delhi.

"It is strange that LG is fighting for credits on issues which fall directly under Delhi government but has miserably failed to improve law and order situation, improve cleanliness of Delhi or control corruption in MCD," according to PTI report.

Meanwhile, the Delhi chief minister tweeted, "Delhi government's weekly action plan to make city roads excellent. Every Saturday, every agency (PWD, MCD) will work towards making each road under their jurisdiction excellent." The LG office statement said that the order by the Chief Secretary for the road maintenance campaign came following the LG's meeting with officials concerned earlier this week. "The LG has also applauded the seamless coordination put in place between various road-owning agencies by keeping the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister on board," the statement said.

As per the statement, the repair and maintenance campaign will take care of potholes, damaged blacktops footpaths and central verge, green cover, paint, street-lights, road reflectors as well as upkeep of public utilities like toilets and water ATMs. Additionally, regular and continued upkeep and cleanliness of these roads by removal of garbage, C&D (construction and demolition) waste and silt from drains shall be done while involving the Market Welfare Associations (MWAs) and RWAs. The action plan of the exercise will be put before the LG by July 12 and will be reviewed at regular interval, it said.

Government sources, however, said the issue of road repair was discussed between the chief secretary and PWD Minister Manish sisodia two days ago. "It looks cheap for LG to fight for credit like this," a source said.

According to an official notification, roads in the city need the attention of agencies concerned such as the Public Works Department (PWD), Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), and New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC). As per the notification, issued by Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar, the progress of the work shall be uploaded on a portal by the organisation concerned. Once the roads are repaired, maintained or improvised, the organisation concerned shall ensure their regular cleaning and maintenance, it said.

(With inputs from PTI)