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% 11.08.2011
Present: Mr. Rajeev Saxena, Amicus Curiae.
Ms. Maninder Acharya for the respondent.MCD along with Mr. Ravi Das, Engineer-in-Chief, MCD.
+Bail App. No. 2068/2008
*
MCD has filed reply to the suggestions given by the learned Amicus
Curiae. Ms. Maninder Acharya, counsel appearing for the respondent/MCD on instructions from Mr. Ravi Das, Engineer-in-Chief, MCD, who is present in
Court, states that most of the issues raised by the learned Amicus Curiae in their report either have been implemented or at the implementation stage, while in response to some other suggestions, difficulties have been expressed. Counsel further submits that the respondent/MCD has also taken into consideration suggestions given by the Central Road Research Institute
(CRRI). Mr. Ravi Das, Engineer-in-Chief, MCD has submitted that all possible steps are being taken by the MCD to see that at least the main roads of Delhi under the MCD jurisdiction are re-laid in terms of the suggestions given by the Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) and the main roads of the width of 45 meters and above will now be of concrete and there will be a gradual phasing out of the bitumen roads. He further submits that the work of relaying the concrete roads is in progress in the areas of Paharganj, Okhla
Industrial Area, Wazirpur Industrial Area, Narayana Industrial Area, Zakhira and some of the rural areas. He also submits that the MCD is fully adhering to the CPWD specifications for the construction of the concrete roads and
2011:DHC:4110 even the mandatory test, re-inspection etc. from the various laboratories to maintain quality control of these roads are strictly being followed in the execution of these projects.
During the course of hearing. Mr. V.K. Khurana, Advocate present in Court in his capacity as a common citizen informs the court that for the last 28 years he has not seen the main road connecting Azad Market crossing upto Pratap Nagar in a motorable condition which is full of potholes at many places. The counsel further submits that the said road is one of the busiest roads of Delhi. Many other lawyers present in the court including
Mr. Rajiv Saxena, learned Amicus Curiae also points out that same is the condition of many roads in Delhi and New Delhi. Mr. Rajiv Saxena has also given a suggestion that this Court may appoint some committee to be headed by a former Judge to streamline, oversee and monitor the planning, progress and implementation of various steps being taken or to be taken by the municipal and other authorities for the construction, relaying and maintenance of the roads. The learned Amicus Curiae further suggests for taking the assistance of some technical expert. Ms. Maninder Acharya, learned counsel representing the MCD, on instructions from the Engineer-in-
Chief, MCD, has also come in support of this suggestion in the larger interest of citizens of Delhi.
Time and again this Court has expressed deep concern on the deplorable quality of roads wreaking havoc in the lives of citizens of Delhi, who day in and day out have nightmarish experience while travelling on the bumpy roads of Delhi, especially, within the jurisdiction of the MCD. But despite several directions given by this court the condition of many arterial/main roads especially within the jurisdiction of the MCD have not shown much progress. The poor condition of roads is primarily due to the sub-standard material used by the contractors in building such roads and also because of the nexus between the contractors and the engineering staff and there being no proper mechanism in place to fix responsibility of guilty staff and contractors. Frequent digging of the roads by various Government and non-Government agencies mainly Delhi Jal Board further compounds the situation from bad to worse. Some of the roads do not even sustain one heavy down pour and the bitumen can be seen washed away from many places creating potholes and large patches. The growth of any city can be measured by the condition of its roads. Undoubtedly, the city has undergone a monolithic makeover in the last decade, particularly with the construction of flyovers which has indeed eased the congestion on the main roads, giving smooth driving experience to commuters, but shockingly the condition of some of the main roads in Delhi/New Delhi has not improved for the reasons well known to the concerned authorities. Poor maintenance of the roads with potholes not only leads to causing accidents but the same leads to many other troublesome consequences such as long traffic jams, excess consumption of fuel, increase of pollution, reduction of life of the vehicles.
Certainly, there is now greater mobility system in the city and massive augmentation of the public transport system, but there is still a large scope for a lot to be done for giving solace to the harried commuter.
The MCD is responsible for maintenance of 94% of the roads in
Delhi i.e. around 41,000 Kms. The faulty drainage system leads to clogging of water on various main roads during the rainy season. The roads are also under the jurisdiction of NDMC and the CPWD. In the recent affidavit filed by the MCD in response to the suggestions given by the learned Amicus Curiae, they have taken a stand that MCD will be relaying concrete roads and gradually the bitumen roads would be phased out. The Engineer-in-Chief has given a time schedule of 5 to 10 years for completing the process of relaying all the main roads of Delhi to convert them into concrete roads. This Court cannot however appreciate such a long plan of relaying concrete roads as put forth by the Engineer-in-Chief of MCD. The MCD has also put blame on various other authorities such as MTNL, BSNL, Delhi Jal Board and many other private telecom companies and discoms for frequent digging of the roads. For resolving all these issues within a time bound schedule and at least to prepare a blue print for relaying the main/arterial roads of Delhi with concrete or of some other technology, the learned Amicus Curiae has given a suggestion for appointment of a retired Judge not only to monitor and streamline the steps being taken by the various authorities in achieving their target but to bring a cohesive and unified plan to achieve the target of ensuring better quality roads for the people of Delhi, be it in the area under jurisdiction of NDMC or MCD. The suggestion given by the learned Amicus
Curiae for appointment of a retired Judge found support from the MCD represented through their Engineer-in-Chief Mr. Ravi Das and learned counsel Ms. Maninder Acharya.
In Delhi/New Delhi, MCD, NDMC and PWD are mainly responsible for the construction, relaying and the maintenance of the roads. Since the major part of Delhi falls under the jurisdiction of MCD, therefore, various directions were given by this court to the MCD alone to undertake various steps for the proper maintenance of the roads and for relaying roads of high standards. The MCD, which is divided into various zones, in response has placed on record the progress of relaying the roads in its various zones. The
MCD has also stated to have purchased jet patcher machine to fill potholes and a tarmac heater to relay the damaged roads in a very effective and quick manner. The progress of various main roads/arterial roads as shown to have placed on record through various authorities of MCD does not seem to match the ground reality. This court also directed notice on the Central Road
Research Institute (CRRI) for their effective and meaningful assistance for the construction of quality roads in Delhi. This court had also appointed the learned Amicus Curiae to give suggestions to aid in achieving the objective of providing high quality roads to the citizens of Delhi. This court also directed notice to the Government of NCT of Delhi, NDMC and the PWD, these authorities being responsible for the construction of the roads falling in their jurisdiction. Notice was also directed on Delhi Jal Board as the DJB is responsible to maintain the storm water drains and for relaying the sewerage line and water pipes and hence all these authorities were made a party in the present case to chalk out a plan to attain the desired results. It is the statutory duty of these authorities to provide high quality roads to its citizens. Citizens are not expected to suffer on account of bad planning, lack of coordination of the multiple authorities in Delhi. The officers from junior to high level of these authorities are either not taking their job seriously or some of these officers are hand in glove with the contractors in laying or relaying of substandard roads. An effective and proper mechanism needs to be in place. This court does not intend to say that these authorities are not taking any steps for the construction of better and durable roads but nevertheless in any case the progress is not only very slow, but in some areas it cannot be even visibly seen making the patience of the common man reach the boiling point. Some of the roads of New Delhi and Delhi have not been part of any development plan and are as lamentable as they were many years ago. With a view to put a coordinated and unified effort, this court feels it appropriate on considering the suggestions given by the Amicus
Curiae and endorsed by the MCD, to appoint Ms. Justice Rekha
Sharma(Retired) as one man committee to undertake the task of bringing all these authorities together to plan out a time bound programme for the construction of high quality roads of international standards having longer life along with proper maintenance and instant repair of the roads.
The task, no doubt, is gigantic not only because lots of issues involved; right from the stage of awarding the contracts for the relaying and maintenance of the roads, strict observance of the laid down norms under the CPWD manuals, certification by various accredited laboratories about the quality of the material used, life span of the re-laid roads, prompt repair of the re-laid roads by the same contractors, imposition of penalties and legal actions against the defaulting contractors, fixation of responsibility of the engineering and another staff of the authorities, design of the roads, technique of digging of roads, coverage of drainage and cleaning of drainage, special measures to be adopted before the onset of rains and so on and so forth. Also, responsible for the present chaos and complete mess is multiplicity of various authorities responsible not only in the task of relaying and maintaining the roads but the various authorities who do not adhere to the laid down norms and keep digging and re-digging the roads.
There is no mechanism as yet in place in terms of Section 53 of the CPWD manual which provides a complete mechanism for quality control system.
Henceforth, to achieve the desired objective, the MCD, NDMC and PWD are directed to get all the roads which fall under their jurisdiction surveyed so as to place the existing condition of the roads before the said committee.
This task shall be completed by these authorities within a period of three months from the date of this order. These authorities shall themselves place their unified plan before the said committee as to what steps they would be undertaking to provide high quality roads to the citizens of Delhi which do not tear or damage before a guaranteed period. The committee will be broad based to give each and every direction to all the concerned authorities to achieve the desired goal of providing high quality roads to the citizens of
Delhi with no potholes and unevenness. The Committee shall also suggest the complete mechanism of putting responsibility on the higher officials for necessary certification of the roads which are re-laid and then fix the responsibility of such officers in case any deficiency is found either in the use of substandard material or such officer indulging into any corrupt practices.
The Committee shall also suggest mechanism for proper action against the corrupt contractors and for not awarding future contracts in their favour.
The Committee shall also suggest proper certification of the quality of roads by the reputed laboratories duly accredited with the National Board of
Laboratories. The Committee may also suggest constitution of special teams who will undertake the task of periodical inspection and supervision of these roads and then submit their inspection reports with the higher ups of their respective departments. The said Committee shall start functioning from
1.11.2011. The two learned Amicus Curiae appointed by this court, Mr. Ashok Sethi and Mr.Rajiv Saxena shall continue to give their valuable assistance to the said Committee and also seek directions, as and when required, from this court, if any of the authorities are found lacking or not complying with the directions of the said Committee. The MCD whose jurisdiction of the roads is large in comparison to the other authorities will act as a nodal agency and the Commissioner MCD will take the responsibility to supervise and monitor the progress and the implementation of the various directions given by the said Committee. The heads of the other authorities will also duly coordinate and cooperate in the process of achieving the aforesaid objectives and for ensuring implementation of the directions given by the Committee from time to time. The MCD is also directed to arrange space for the sitting of the said Committee with sufficient support and secretarial staff along with transport facility confining to the dates of the sittings and as and when the Committee so desires.
Mr.Dinesh Dayal, (Retired Additional & Sessions Judge) will act as a Registrar of the said Committee for the appropriate discharge of its functioning. The said Committee shall also take the help of any technical expert or experts to achieve the said desired goal. The honorarium of Ms. Justice Rekha Sharma
(retired) is fixed at Rs.50,000/- per sitting and of Mr.Dinesh Dayal (retired
Additional & Sessions Judge) at Rs.25,000/- per sitting which shall be borne by the MCD. It is also directed that a minimum of two sittings shall take place in one month and any further sittings are left to the discretion of the said committee. It is also directed that the officer not less than the rank of Chief
Engineer or of the equivalent rank of the concerned authorities shall be present at every meeting along with the support staff for expeditious implementation of directions. The term of the said Committee for the time being shall be for a period of six months from the date of its first assuming the charge and any further extension will depend upon the evaluation of the progress in the matter. The MCD is hereby directed to revert within 6 weeks from the date of this order to apprise the court about the exact sitting place of the committee and the provision of the secretarial staff and other facilities to be made available for the smooth functioning of the said committee.
In the past, as stated herein above, this court incessantly gave directions emphasizing the importance of good quality roads in hope that the authorities would have mercy on the citizens of this city and prepare the roads for the monsoon but with the ongoing monsoons where the sheaths of the surface of the roads are peeled off, it has laid bare the fakeness of the claims of the high technology being used, making evident that the promises in affidavits have gone down the potholes. This court cannot help but restate that though we have achieved economic, social and educational progress but the roads of the megacity that is the nerve centre of the country, reflects another story. It seems that the nature and magnitude of the inconvenience, misery and woes of the common man traveling on the roads every day has been grossly underestimated by the civic agencies, which has thus necessitated appointing the said committee. The roads, especially in the rainy season lead to long, grueling and unending traffic jams where vehicles crawl inch by inch, making it nothing less than a satanic curse for the commuters. At the end of the day, these bodies are answerable to the hassled, miserable and pitied commuter who pays hefty sums as road tax in the anticipation and hope that the roads do not stalk them but bestow pain free travel. The callous authorities cannot dodge the responsibility by indulging in the blame game, when the commuter silently suffers. To jog down the memory lane, the roads have always been riddled with potholes and craters but now this court hopes in the right earnest that with the setting up of the said committee, all these authorities will not only act with promptness but also in unison to achieve the common objective of providing better quality roads to the citizens of Delhi.
Renotify on 25.9.2011.
AUGUST 11, 2011 KAILASH GAMBHIR, J rkr/mg
Present: Mr. Rajeev Saxena, Amicus Curiae.
Ms. Maninder Acharya for the respondent.MCD along with Mr. Ravi Das, Engineer-in-Chief, MCD.
+Bail App. No. 2068/2008
*
MCD has filed reply to the suggestions given by the learned Amicus
Curiae. Ms. Maninder Acharya, counsel appearing for the respondent/MCD on instructions from Mr. Ravi Das, Engineer-in-Chief, MCD, who is present in
Court, states that most of the issues raised by the learned Amicus Curiae in their report either have been implemented or at the implementation stage, while in response to some other suggestions, difficulties have been expressed. Counsel further submits that the respondent/MCD has also taken into consideration suggestions given by the Central Road Research Institute
(CRRI). Mr. Ravi Das, Engineer-in-Chief, MCD has submitted that all possible steps are being taken by the MCD to see that at least the main roads of Delhi under the MCD jurisdiction are re-laid in terms of the suggestions given by the Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) and the main roads of the width of 45 meters and above will now be of concrete and there will be a gradual phasing out of the bitumen roads. He further submits that the work of relaying the concrete roads is in progress in the areas of Paharganj, Okhla
Industrial Area, Wazirpur Industrial Area, Narayana Industrial Area, Zakhira and some of the rural areas. He also submits that the MCD is fully adhering to the CPWD specifications for the construction of the concrete roads and
2011:DHC:4110 even the mandatory test, re-inspection etc. from the various laboratories to maintain quality control of these roads are strictly being followed in the execution of these projects.
During the course of hearing. Mr. V.K. Khurana, Advocate present in Court in his capacity as a common citizen informs the court that for the last 28 years he has not seen the main road connecting Azad Market crossing upto Pratap Nagar in a motorable condition which is full of potholes at many places. The counsel further submits that the said road is one of the busiest roads of Delhi. Many other lawyers present in the court including
Mr. Rajiv Saxena, learned Amicus Curiae also points out that same is the condition of many roads in Delhi and New Delhi. Mr. Rajiv Saxena has also given a suggestion that this Court may appoint some committee to be headed by a former Judge to streamline, oversee and monitor the planning, progress and implementation of various steps being taken or to be taken by the municipal and other authorities for the construction, relaying and maintenance of the roads. The learned Amicus Curiae further suggests for taking the assistance of some technical expert. Ms. Maninder Acharya, learned counsel representing the MCD, on instructions from the Engineer-in-
Chief, MCD, has also come in support of this suggestion in the larger interest of citizens of Delhi.
Time and again this Court has expressed deep concern on the deplorable quality of roads wreaking havoc in the lives of citizens of Delhi, who day in and day out have nightmarish experience while travelling on the bumpy roads of Delhi, especially, within the jurisdiction of the MCD. But despite several directions given by this court the condition of many arterial/main roads especially within the jurisdiction of the MCD have not shown much progress. The poor condition of roads is primarily due to the sub-standard material used by the contractors in building such roads and also because of the nexus between the contractors and the engineering staff and there being no proper mechanism in place to fix responsibility of guilty staff and contractors. Frequent digging of the roads by various Government and non-Government agencies mainly Delhi Jal Board further compounds the situation from bad to worse. Some of the roads do not even sustain one heavy down pour and the bitumen can be seen washed away from many places creating potholes and large patches. The growth of any city can be measured by the condition of its roads. Undoubtedly, the city has undergone a monolithic makeover in the last decade, particularly with the construction of flyovers which has indeed eased the congestion on the main roads, giving smooth driving experience to commuters, but shockingly the condition of some of the main roads in Delhi/New Delhi has not improved for the reasons well known to the concerned authorities. Poor maintenance of the roads with potholes not only leads to causing accidents but the same leads to many other troublesome consequences such as long traffic jams, excess consumption of fuel, increase of pollution, reduction of life of the vehicles.
Certainly, there is now greater mobility system in the city and massive augmentation of the public transport system, but there is still a large scope for a lot to be done for giving solace to the harried commuter.
The MCD is responsible for maintenance of 94% of the roads in
Delhi i.e. around 41,000 Kms. The faulty drainage system leads to clogging of water on various main roads during the rainy season. The roads are also under the jurisdiction of NDMC and the CPWD. In the recent affidavit filed by the MCD in response to the suggestions given by the learned Amicus Curiae, they have taken a stand that MCD will be relaying concrete roads and gradually the bitumen roads would be phased out. The Engineer-in-Chief has given a time schedule of 5 to 10 years for completing the process of relaying all the main roads of Delhi to convert them into concrete roads. This Court cannot however appreciate such a long plan of relaying concrete roads as put forth by the Engineer-in-Chief of MCD. The MCD has also put blame on various other authorities such as MTNL, BSNL, Delhi Jal Board and many other private telecom companies and discoms for frequent digging of the roads. For resolving all these issues within a time bound schedule and at least to prepare a blue print for relaying the main/arterial roads of Delhi with concrete or of some other technology, the learned Amicus Curiae has given a suggestion for appointment of a retired Judge not only to monitor and streamline the steps being taken by the various authorities in achieving their target but to bring a cohesive and unified plan to achieve the target of ensuring better quality roads for the people of Delhi, be it in the area under jurisdiction of NDMC or MCD. The suggestion given by the learned Amicus
Curiae for appointment of a retired Judge found support from the MCD represented through their Engineer-in-Chief Mr. Ravi Das and learned counsel Ms. Maninder Acharya.
In Delhi/New Delhi, MCD, NDMC and PWD are mainly responsible for the construction, relaying and the maintenance of the roads. Since the major part of Delhi falls under the jurisdiction of MCD, therefore, various directions were given by this court to the MCD alone to undertake various steps for the proper maintenance of the roads and for relaying roads of high standards. The MCD, which is divided into various zones, in response has placed on record the progress of relaying the roads in its various zones. The
MCD has also stated to have purchased jet patcher machine to fill potholes and a tarmac heater to relay the damaged roads in a very effective and quick manner. The progress of various main roads/arterial roads as shown to have placed on record through various authorities of MCD does not seem to match the ground reality. This court also directed notice on the Central Road
Research Institute (CRRI) for their effective and meaningful assistance for the construction of quality roads in Delhi. This court had also appointed the learned Amicus Curiae to give suggestions to aid in achieving the objective of providing high quality roads to the citizens of Delhi. This court also directed notice to the Government of NCT of Delhi, NDMC and the PWD, these authorities being responsible for the construction of the roads falling in their jurisdiction. Notice was also directed on Delhi Jal Board as the DJB is responsible to maintain the storm water drains and for relaying the sewerage line and water pipes and hence all these authorities were made a party in the present case to chalk out a plan to attain the desired results. It is the statutory duty of these authorities to provide high quality roads to its citizens. Citizens are not expected to suffer on account of bad planning, lack of coordination of the multiple authorities in Delhi. The officers from junior to high level of these authorities are either not taking their job seriously or some of these officers are hand in glove with the contractors in laying or relaying of substandard roads. An effective and proper mechanism needs to be in place. This court does not intend to say that these authorities are not taking any steps for the construction of better and durable roads but nevertheless in any case the progress is not only very slow, but in some areas it cannot be even visibly seen making the patience of the common man reach the boiling point. Some of the roads of New Delhi and Delhi have not been part of any development plan and are as lamentable as they were many years ago. With a view to put a coordinated and unified effort, this court feels it appropriate on considering the suggestions given by the Amicus
Curiae and endorsed by the MCD, to appoint Ms. Justice Rekha
Sharma(Retired) as one man committee to undertake the task of bringing all these authorities together to plan out a time bound programme for the construction of high quality roads of international standards having longer life along with proper maintenance and instant repair of the roads.
The task, no doubt, is gigantic not only because lots of issues involved; right from the stage of awarding the contracts for the relaying and maintenance of the roads, strict observance of the laid down norms under the CPWD manuals, certification by various accredited laboratories about the quality of the material used, life span of the re-laid roads, prompt repair of the re-laid roads by the same contractors, imposition of penalties and legal actions against the defaulting contractors, fixation of responsibility of the engineering and another staff of the authorities, design of the roads, technique of digging of roads, coverage of drainage and cleaning of drainage, special measures to be adopted before the onset of rains and so on and so forth. Also, responsible for the present chaos and complete mess is multiplicity of various authorities responsible not only in the task of relaying and maintaining the roads but the various authorities who do not adhere to the laid down norms and keep digging and re-digging the roads.
There is no mechanism as yet in place in terms of Section 53 of the CPWD manual which provides a complete mechanism for quality control system.
Henceforth, to achieve the desired objective, the MCD, NDMC and PWD are directed to get all the roads which fall under their jurisdiction surveyed so as to place the existing condition of the roads before the said committee.
This task shall be completed by these authorities within a period of three months from the date of this order. These authorities shall themselves place their unified plan before the said committee as to what steps they would be undertaking to provide high quality roads to the citizens of Delhi which do not tear or damage before a guaranteed period. The committee will be broad based to give each and every direction to all the concerned authorities to achieve the desired goal of providing high quality roads to the citizens of
Delhi with no potholes and unevenness. The Committee shall also suggest the complete mechanism of putting responsibility on the higher officials for necessary certification of the roads which are re-laid and then fix the responsibility of such officers in case any deficiency is found either in the use of substandard material or such officer indulging into any corrupt practices.
The Committee shall also suggest mechanism for proper action against the corrupt contractors and for not awarding future contracts in their favour.
The Committee shall also suggest proper certification of the quality of roads by the reputed laboratories duly accredited with the National Board of
Laboratories. The Committee may also suggest constitution of special teams who will undertake the task of periodical inspection and supervision of these roads and then submit their inspection reports with the higher ups of their respective departments. The said Committee shall start functioning from
1.11.2011. The two learned Amicus Curiae appointed by this court, Mr. Ashok Sethi and Mr.Rajiv Saxena shall continue to give their valuable assistance to the said Committee and also seek directions, as and when required, from this court, if any of the authorities are found lacking or not complying with the directions of the said Committee. The MCD whose jurisdiction of the roads is large in comparison to the other authorities will act as a nodal agency and the Commissioner MCD will take the responsibility to supervise and monitor the progress and the implementation of the various directions given by the said Committee. The heads of the other authorities will also duly coordinate and cooperate in the process of achieving the aforesaid objectives and for ensuring implementation of the directions given by the Committee from time to time. The MCD is also directed to arrange space for the sitting of the said Committee with sufficient support and secretarial staff along with transport facility confining to the dates of the sittings and as and when the Committee so desires.
Mr.Dinesh Dayal, (Retired Additional & Sessions Judge) will act as a Registrar of the said Committee for the appropriate discharge of its functioning. The said Committee shall also take the help of any technical expert or experts to achieve the said desired goal. The honorarium of Ms. Justice Rekha Sharma
(retired) is fixed at Rs.50,000/- per sitting and of Mr.Dinesh Dayal (retired
Additional & Sessions Judge) at Rs.25,000/- per sitting which shall be borne by the MCD. It is also directed that a minimum of two sittings shall take place in one month and any further sittings are left to the discretion of the said committee. It is also directed that the officer not less than the rank of Chief
Engineer or of the equivalent rank of the concerned authorities shall be present at every meeting along with the support staff for expeditious implementation of directions. The term of the said Committee for the time being shall be for a period of six months from the date of its first assuming the charge and any further extension will depend upon the evaluation of the progress in the matter. The MCD is hereby directed to revert within 6 weeks from the date of this order to apprise the court about the exact sitting place of the committee and the provision of the secretarial staff and other facilities to be made available for the smooth functioning of the said committee.
In the past, as stated herein above, this court incessantly gave directions emphasizing the importance of good quality roads in hope that the authorities would have mercy on the citizens of this city and prepare the roads for the monsoon but with the ongoing monsoons where the sheaths of the surface of the roads are peeled off, it has laid bare the fakeness of the claims of the high technology being used, making evident that the promises in affidavits have gone down the potholes. This court cannot help but restate that though we have achieved economic, social and educational progress but the roads of the megacity that is the nerve centre of the country, reflects another story. It seems that the nature and magnitude of the inconvenience, misery and woes of the common man traveling on the roads every day has been grossly underestimated by the civic agencies, which has thus necessitated appointing the said committee. The roads, especially in the rainy season lead to long, grueling and unending traffic jams where vehicles crawl inch by inch, making it nothing less than a satanic curse for the commuters. At the end of the day, these bodies are answerable to the hassled, miserable and pitied commuter who pays hefty sums as road tax in the anticipation and hope that the roads do not stalk them but bestow pain free travel. The callous authorities cannot dodge the responsibility by indulging in the blame game, when the commuter silently suffers. To jog down the memory lane, the roads have always been riddled with potholes and craters but now this court hopes in the right earnest that with the setting up of the said committee, all these authorities will not only act with promptness but also in unison to achieve the common objective of providing better quality roads to the citizens of Delhi.
Renotify on 25.9.2011.
AUGUST 11, 2011 KAILASH GAMBHIR, J rkr/mg
JUDGMENT