Aurangabad: Rs 100 crore road works begin amid protests

AURANGABAD: The much-hyped work on developing roads under the Rs 100-crore project began amid protests on Monday as the citizens and activists accused the civic body of wrongly selecting the stretches.
The Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) came under fire particularly for scraping work on the road stretch in front of the superintendent of police (rural) office between TV Centre and Central Naka that is in good condition.This is a tar road and patchwork had been done on it hardly six months ago.

The contractor engaged mechanical excavators on the above-mentioned road and the site supervisor was seen overseeing the work. Asked for the reason for doing up a road that is better than other roads, the supervisor told TOI that the road has been taken up for laying white topping because “one needs existing base”. “We cannot work on a road that is in bad shape.”
Leader of opposition in AMC, Zameer Quadri, Naser Siddiqui visited the site in evening and expressed shock over the “irresponsible” way in which the road work has been taken up.
“There was no representative from the project management consultancy, nor any civic official or official supervisor contractor was on the site. In a contradiction of what was told, there is no board giving schedule B information,” said Siddiqui, adding that substandard material was being used.
Activist Rajendra Datey Patil said the decision of the civic chief to go ahead with the project while the matter is in court is wrong. “Great care should have been taken by the AMC before initiating the works as the matter is before the high court.”
He said the high court has already issued notice to the AMC and the state government on the selection of roads under the project. “The petitions before the HC should be reviewed by the municipal commissioner.”
The municipal commissioner is in Delhi and expected to return to Aurangabad on Tuesday, when the MIM is planning to register their objection with him then, said a corporator of the party.
Vishranti Nagar resident Sunita Sagle expressed shock over the AMC’s action. “We have absolutely no road in our area since the residential colonies have come up. The condition is so bad that we have witnessed many incidents of serious injuries due to accidents in the locality. How can the civic body choose to spend the fund on recently repaired road,” she asked.
Bhavsingpura resident Sanjay Kale said that apart from inconvenience for daily commute, the lack of proper road infrastructure in his area leads to problems when an emergency patient has to be rushed to hospital. “We were looking forward to the Rs 100-crore road project but the latest development is disappointing,” he added.