31 roads waiting for dividers, sidewalks

Aurangabad, Aug 13:

The state government had given Rs 100 crore four years ago to construct roads in the city. The Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) constructed 31 white topping roads. But with no dividers and sidewalks for pedestrians, the roads have become a hot spot for accidents. Now the corporation has started efforts to get separate funds from the government for beautification of roads.

In 2015, the state government sanctioned Rs 24 crore to the AMC for the construction of roads. Later, additional funds of Rs 100 crore were sanctioned for roads. The funds were utilised for construction of 31 roads. However, works of road dividers. sidewalks and side drains were not included in the work. As per the municipal administration, the beautification works were excluded as the funds would have proved insufficient for the construction of white topping roads. However, the number of accidents on these roads has increased as there are no dividers and high speed driving.

CSR funding experiment failed

The municipal administration had taken a stand that the contractors working on roads should construct dividers and sidewalks using CSR funds, without which no pending bills would be paid. This was later ignored by the contractors. The corporation administration also turned a blind eye towards the issue.

Re-demand for funds

The administration demanded that the government should provide funds for construction of dividers, sidewalks on these roads as the financial condition of the municipal corporation is weak.