Road to Nowhere
Posted in Blog
Two articles were published on 12th October in the Times of India and Ahmedabad Mirror on the basis of a RTI filed by Bharatsinh Jhala of CRANTI, requesting:
(i) the list of civic works undertaken in Naroda Patiya in the last three years and,
(ii) how much of the grants given to the MLA, MPs and the local councilors were utilised in Naroda Patiya.
We were shocked to find that numerous roads which were listed as “completed” or claimed to have been paved were in fact either not complete or unpaved for years. For example, the stretch near Madhuvan Society connecting Jalpa Society TP road with Saurashtra Pulin TP road was claimed to have been completed in 2005-06. A grant of Rs. 2, 51,760 was allocated by MP Harin Pathak. As per the RTI, stone paving was to have been done twice from 2005-2007 in Parishramni Chali at a cost of Rs. 37,021. Similarly Chunaravas Chali was to have stone paving worth Rs. 47,065 from a grant from councilor Bharat Patel. However there is nothing to suggest a repaired or new road or paving!
Further 620 benches worth Rs. 10, 70,657 were said to have been installed in Naroda Patiya but the residents do not seem to find too many. So where has all this money gone?
The AMC claims that the road works have been completed but they were either destroyed after subsequent laying of gas pipelines etc. or mud had covered the roads over a period of time. As for the benches, the AMC claims that the benches may have been damaged by the people and therefore a “few” could be missing. Contrary to AMC claims, a resident of Madhuvan Society, Pravinaben Rathod stated that she had been living there for twenty years and that no road work had been done there. Similarly a shopkeeper on condition of anonymity stated that the AMC kept claiming that it had made a pucca road on the stretch from Satyam School to Laxminangar; but anyone could tell that there was no pucca road there.
Mr. Bharatsinh has sent a copy of the RTI to the Chief Minister’s office. The information from the RTI and the ground reality indicate that there is corruption in civic affairs; and the AMC, instead of undertaking its responsibility and completing the road work, is putting the blame on the people! How responsible a governance is this?
Some more facts:
- Grant of Rs. 1.25 lakhs from deputy mayor Kalpana Bhatt for concrete road in Bharwadvaas
- Rs. 41lakhs spent by the three councilors of Naroda Patiya in the last three years.
- Rs. 10.41 lakh utilized for Chinese mosaic and concrete benches
