Fingers point at civic officials for bad work

Chennai: There has to be more tra­nsparency and project de­tails and cost spent should be updated online as transparency in civic projects alone can im­prove the quality of ro­ads, streetlights and dra­ins, says a former deputy mayor of Chennai. This data would help book the faulty contractor and field officials, he says.

Activists wonder that despite 200 councillors being present in the corporation council, there has been no significant im­provement in the civic infrastructure.

“Every councillor so­ught votes promising that she or he will help in the development of the city, but unfortunately they never live up to the promise. If a councillor concentrated on a single issue per day, the city would have been a better place by now,” said K. Subramani of Consumer Protection Centre.

However, cutting across party lines, elected rep­re­sentatives blame such poor work on the failure of the field officials ins­pecting the civic works. A politician is often bl­amed for the poor roads and lack of civic amenities, but there is no onus on the officials and the field executives, emphasises Karate R. Thiag­arajan, former deputy mayor of Chennai.

At least at the time of elections a non-performing politician is thrown out of power but is there any system to check the erring field officials, he says and calls for more transparency in the execution of a number of civic works in the city.

“The quality of roads co­ntinue to be an eyesore for people and the main reason behind this is the contractor who is not held responsible for the roads,” said Madu­ra­v­oyal legislator Bhim Rao. They must guarantee the quality of roads.

There is also no proper coordination when it co­mes to road-cuts. A coordination committee must be formed to permit road-cuts for laying ca­bles and metro water lines so that the roads are not damaged.

Ward-wise booths can be set up to address eve­ry day streetlight malfunctioning complaints, as the issue goes un-addressed mostly in the interior roads than arterial roads.

“Roads in our area do not last long and it seems that the bitumen is of sub-standard quality. This is a basic thing wh­ich often goes unchecked irrespective of any reg­ime,” wondered Ms A. Ge­­etha Vani, a banker.

“We often look with envy at foreign countries for their better facilities and sanitation as these have been neglected in the city for several dec­ades,” said Ms Surekha Raj, an HR consultant.