Gujarat High Court has expressed severe disappointment over the condition of roads in the city of Ahmedabad, and gave Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation four weeks’ time to turn up with a report on contracts and work orders over the harm sustained by city roads.
“It appears that though crores of rupees are spent by the Corporation out of the public money (the tax recovered from the citizen), the result is not achieved and the public roads are not constructed and/or maintained in good condition and ultimate sufferer is the citizen,” the bench comprising justice MR Shah and Justice BN Karia observed as reported by Livelaw.
The Court also said during the hearing that when crores are spent, there exists a genuine expectation on the part of the citizens that the corporation would ensure good condition of roads. “However, it appears that either because of poor material used in the construction/maintenance of the roads by the contractors and/ or the scientific method is not used, there is large scale damage to the public roads in the city of Ahmedabad. Even it can prima facie be said that the concerned officers failed to perform their statutory duties,” it further added.
The Court was hearing a PIL filed by some Mustak Kadri. The petitioner was seeking directions to authorities to ensure that proper roads are constructed and a proper monitoring mechanism is created to prevent future damage. In agreement with the contentions raised by Kadri, the Court told municipal commissioners to take urgent steps to repair and resurface roads.
