Gujarat HC asks AMC to submit report on road repair status

The Gujarat High Court on Tuesday asked the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) to submit a report on the repair and resurface work of damaged roads. The court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Mustak Kadri.

“The municipal corporation should get all the repaired and resurfaced roads to be inspected by a third party to check the quality of the roads,” observed the second division bench of Justice MR Shah and Justice Biren Vaishnav. The court on Tuesday pulled up the civic body about the patches of road that were damaged, but had yet to be repaired. The bench felt that the corporation had not repaired all the roads that were damaged in the rains.

The HC has ordered the corporation to furnish information about all the approved town planning schemes and updates about the work done in the areas recently merged in the city. The bench has also asked the civic body to inform them about their plans to provide basic infrastructure to the residents of these areas.

During the last hearing, the court had told the corporation that if it was not satisfied with the work and progress of the civic body, it would not hesitate to appoint a nodal agency to keep an eye on the road resurface and repair work quality. The municipal corporation had conducted a survey of the 984 roads that were damaged during the rains. They had found that around 70-kilometer stretch of road was badly damaged.

The court also raised the issue of illegal parking on the roads, which is making life difficult for the commuters. The municipal corporation has informed the court that it will resurface the drive-in road along the metro link project. The next hearing is scheduled for February 6.

The high court is also hearing a contempt case, in which the petitioner has brought to the court’s notice, that despite its order to keep the city streets free from cattle, the state government has failed to follow the instruction. The government on Tuesday told the bench that the municipal commissioner had submitted an amendment to provide more power to the civic body and other agencies to address the issue. The government informed the court that the proposal was being reviewed at the highest level.