Shoddy road construction in Faridabad under scrutiny

Bijendra Ahlawat

Tribune News Service

Faridabad, August 8

The work done by agencies hired for the construction of roads — including Ready Mix Concrete (RMC) roads built in the city — has come under scanner. Complaints of shoddy work done at some of the spots have been received by the district and state administration authorities. The construction of major roads (30-m wide or more) in the city had been handed over to the Faridabad Metropolitan Development Authority (FMDA) around two years ago.

The matter was highlighted after the Additional CEO of the FMDA asked the officials concerned to conduct an inquiry into the work performance and clauses of the tender given to the contractors concerned. The directions came in response to a complaint lodged by KL Gera with the authorities concerned, including the Faridabad Chief Secretary, that the performance guarantee submitted by a contractor had been much shorter and the pace of the work done was slow. Some of the roads have already started developing cracks and faults due to poor quality of construction material, he alleged.

Varun Sheokand, a resident of Sector 9, said while the life of an RMC road was generally between 30 to 40 years, the Defects Liability Period (DLP) for the RMC roads in the city had been very low, pointing towards the wastage of funds. He alleged that some of the newly laid roads had already developed cracks and had to be repaired within one or two years of their construction. He said, “Procurement of poor quality material could be a factor behind the degraded product.”

The FMDA, which had been set up to carry out major development works in the city, has spent an amount of over Rs 200 crore on road projects in the last two years.

Ramesh Bagri, Chief Engineer, FMDA, said while the cracks on the RMC roads have been repaired by the contractor under the DLP contract, the department had already submitted a compliance report of the inquiry ordered by a former Additional CEO.

'Funds being wasted'

While the life of a Ready-Mix Concrete (RMC) road is generally between 30 and 40 years, the Defects Liability Period for the RMC roads in the city had been very low, pointing towards the wastage of funds. Procurement of poor quality material could be a factor behind the degraded product. — Varun Sheokand, a resident of Sector 9