Officers showing laxity in the pothole free drive to be suspended immediately
Wednesday, 22 November 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN
Taking a stern note of the laxity shown in the drive to make the roads of the State free from potholes, the chief minister Puskhar Singh Dhami has directed on the spot suspension of the officers concerned. The CM had set up a time frame of November 30 for making all the roads of the State free from potholes. Chairing a meeting of the officers of the Public Works Department (PWD) at the State secretariat on Tuesday, the CM appeared very serious about the department meeting the target of making roads free from potholes in time. He directed that the secretary PWD and other circle officers should conduct inspections and suspend the officer concerned on the spot on finding potholes after the stipulated date. The CM said that he too can conduct surprise inspections of the road construction works and patch works being done by the department.
The CM said that the work of the smart city project and works of the internal roads should be done on a war scale. He clearly said that compromise with the quality of work will not be tolerated. The CM said that the secretary PWD should be made nodal officer for checking the quality of the road construction. He said that people should not face inconvenience in travelling on the roads where repair and construction works are in progress and barricades should be placed in proper places.
The CM said that the two major events, the global investors’ summit and the sixth international conference on disaster management are scheduled to be held in Dehradun soon and all the preparation for them should be done in time.
He said that the road construction projects should be prepared and planned while keeping in mind the conditions for the next 50 years. The CM also directed the officers to ensure that the electricity lines are not hanging on the roads and the electricity poles should also be shifted while broadening the roads. Encroachments should not be allowed on the roads, he warned.
The CM said that Uttarakhand is an important State in terms of tourism and pilgrimage and the number of tourists and pilgrims are increasing rapidly every year. The State needs better road connectivity. The CM said that the State needs to move fast for expansion of road network and power production.
In the meeting the CM directed that the officers should ensure that every possible help is provided to the agencies involved in the rescue work underway to evacuate 41 stranded labourers from the Silkyara tunnel. He said that coordination should be done with the relatives of the labourers and every possible help should also be given to them. The meeting was attended by Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) Radha Raturi, Secretary Pankaj Kumar Pandey, additional secretary Vineet Kumar, municipal commissioner Manuj Goyal and others.
