With bad roads and potholes choking the city of Chandigarh, the Municipal Commissioner KK Yadav on Monday, September 16 said that roads cannot be made in the city as there are no funds with the civic body. The construction of roads that remains incomplete will not be started again until there are enough funds, The Indian Express reported.

Yadav made this statement in the General House meeting while discussing the agenda of signing an MoU with the National Institute of Technical Teachers Training & Research (NITTTR) for 30 years, ensuring quality control of roads.

The corporation is responsible for managing and maintaining 1,800 kilometres of roads in the city. “We don’t have any funds to make roads. In fact, our financial position is such that it will become difficult to pay salaries to the employees as well,” Commissioner Yadav said.

“Not only road repair work, we do not have funds for construction work also. We are left with money only to pay salaries to the staff now,” Yadav said during the meeting.

The commissioner said that certain items which were expected to fetch revenue for the corporation had been rejected, dashing the hope for any revenue generation for maintenance of roads.

BJP councillor and former mayor Arun Sood asked the officers about those Rs 50 crore additional funds that were given by the UT Administration to the civic body for the construction of the roads.

To this, the officials replied that the 2017-18 fund had been spent on roads and there are no available funds to carry out any more maintenance.

“When we don’t have funds to make roads then what is the need for bringing this agenda of giving NITTTR the technical survey?” Sood asked.

Mayor Rajesh Kalia claimed that they would meet the UT Administrator seeking funds for roads.

The agenda was then passed as the councillors stated that whenever funds arrived, NITTTR would ensure quality control and also a survey of broken roads. NITTTR would also carry out the technical and condition survey for Rs 36 lakh for 300 kilometres, The Indian Express reported.

Last month, Chandigarh Newsline, a local daily, in a series of stories had highlighted how Rs 50.73 crore spent on road recarpeting was a waste. Newsline visited recarpeted roads with a former chief engineer who pointed out some major construction defects.

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