PWD officials asked to monitor 200km of roads every 2-3 days

The state public works department (PWD) has made it compulsory for the PWD engineers concerned to monitor 200km of roads every two to three days and conduct pothole repairs by the end of August. The department has warned the officials of disciplinary action if the roads are not found up to the mark. The guidelines have been issued against the backdrop of pockmarked roads across many parts of the state due to the heavy bouts of monsoon. "The report of road repairs has to be filed by the engineers every Monday. Responsibility for a smooth road surface lies with the engineers. It is mandatory for chief engineers, superintending engineers, and executive engineers to monitor 200km of roads every two to three days and ensure that they become pothole-free by August 31," said a GR issued recently. Similarly, the state has set up an app named Pothole Complaint Redressal System (PCRS) with which citizens can register complaints and attach pictures of bad road patches to alert the government machinery on all major state and national highways. Most of the roads have to be repaired by the contractors under the annual maintenance contract. The public works department has constructed over 1,18,000 km of road network, the majority in the Mumbai metropolitan region, and all these roads are regularly maintained and repaired by the department. There are three types of roads maintained by the department: major district roads, state highways, and major state highways. "The PCRS, an Android app, will facilitate all citizens in the registration of pothole-related complaints on PWD roads. The PCRS app is available for download from the PWD website or from the Govt of India mSEVA app store and on Google Play Store," said another PWD circular. "Delays up to 7 days in replying to the complaint on the app will be monitored at the deputy engineer level, while a delay of 7 to 15 days will be reviewed by the corresponding executive engineer. A 15-30 days' delay will be monitored and reviewed by the corresponding superintending engineer, and delays of more than 30 days will be reviewed and monitored by the chief engineer of the corresponding region," said the release.