Shimla: Communist Party of India (Marxists) has demanded that the government pay attention to city roads as they are in urgent needs of repairs, and are jolting not just daily commuters but the tourists who visit Shimla.
Secretary CPI(M), Sanjay Chauhan says, the government was not maintaining a quality control supervision over contractors and officials which was resulting in poor quality of patch work being done.
He said that the government two months ago had announced Rs 143 Cr for maintenance of roads, of which Rs 39.5 crore was to be spent on National Highway 22 that passes through Shimla, Kufri, Theog, Narkanda and Rampur.
Roads in Shimla city are in bad shape as are the roads around Charabara-Kufri, Matiana, Oddi and beyond Rampur, he said.
The party has demanded an enquiry by an independent agency and fixing of responsibility for poor quality of work executed in places.
Chauhan said that the government was indulging in false propaganda asking more tourists to visit the hill state but was not disclosing that roads were in bad shape.
Speaking on tourism day, chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal on Tuesday held that the quality of roads had become a victim of vagaries of climate change being felt in the hill state.
He said that though the government had procured a large quantity of bitumen barrels for tarring roads but a long rainy period from June to mid-September had not enabled the work to get underway.
He said that heavy rains in 2010 and this year had damaged much of the state road infrastructure.
As Editor, Ravinder Makhaik leads a team of media professionals at Hill Post.
Spanning a career of over two decades in mass communication, as a Documentary Filmmaker, TV journalist, Print Media journalist and with Online & Social Media, he brings with him a vast experience. He lives in Shimla.
