Aurangabad, March 10:
An air of disappointment prevailed amongst the alert citizens after the contractor dug up the cement road stretching between Kranti Chowk and Osmanpura to lay CCTV cable on Wednesday. They questioned whether the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) was aware of the work to lay CCTV cable in the city and, if yes, then why it had constructed the road.
The AMC had constructed the road 5-6 years ago by spending Rs 22 crore. Today, the contractor, with the help of a breaker, dug up the road. This angered the responsible citizens in the city. Two days ago, the contractor had dug up the cement road from Seven Hills to Central Octroi Naka. It was also built by spending Rs 20 crore from the state government's fund.
The AMC, on Tuesday, as a formality, served notice to the Aurangabad Smart City Development Corporation Limited (ASCDCL). The civic administration is not taking direct action against the contractor. It may be noted that no agency, person or organisation is authorised to dig up the road of AMC without permission and completing the formality.
When the journalists contacted the ASCDCL to obtain a copy of written permission granted by the office to the contractor to dug up city roads, but the Smart City officials maintained silence. Instead, they claimed of fixing paving blocks on the roads which were dug by the contractor.
The alert citizens Anant Borkar, Prahlad Paratkar and others stressed that the contractor should be punished severely for the damage done to the newly built roads. If the action is not taken then, anybody will dig up the roads, and it would be continued. The AMC should take stern action in this regard. It is not justified to dug up the good condition road built some 5-6 years ago. The CCTVs should have been installed without damaging the roads, said the duo.