BHOPAL: Chief Minister Mohan Yadav on Friday called for the creation of a comprehensive plan to construct office buildings in Arera Hills, including the Satpura-Vindhyachal building area, in line with the current requirements. He highlighted that the area will soon benefit from a metro facility and an improved road network.
To enhance convenience for employees and the general public, Yadav emphasised the development of infrastructure with a focus on walk-to-work facilities near workplaces.
He was addressing a meeting at Mantralaya, which reviewed various public works department (PWD) projects. Public works minister Rakesh Singh, chief secretary Anurag Jain and other officials attended the meeting. The discussions also covered Indore’s eastern bypass project and the pothole-free road campaign.
Yadav stated that the eastern bypass project in Indore should be implemented with the cooperation of local farmers and residents. He emphasised that the development should prioritise the welfare and interests of the area’s population. Yadav also highlighted the need for road maintenance work to adopt the latest technology.
During the meeting, it was reported that under the special road repair campaign conducted from August 7 to Sept 6, around 36,000 km of roads were repaired by the chief engineer, roads and bridges. Additionally, 46,516 km of roads are registered in the Lok-Path app, which allows citizens to report potholes. Over the past two months, 3,721 complaints have been received via the app, and 3,652 of them have been resolved.
Regarding the condition of roads, show-cause notices were issued to 15 executive engineers, and notices were issued to 156 contractors. Additionally, Rs 73.30 lakh was confiscated from nine contractors, and their registration was blacklisted. In the campaign, Madhya Pradesh Road Development Corporation withdrew toll rights from investors on three routes of OMT Yojana.
Punitive action was taken against the contractors, and a penalty of more than Rs 1.30 crore was imposed. The Road Development Corporation also issued show-cause notices to 17 contractors and 6 officials in connection with poor maintenance of roads.
It was informed in the meeting that a pilot project of white topping work is being undertaken on 41 selected asphalted roads in 21 districts of the state. Under white topping, concrete work of 6 to 8 inches thickness is done on asphalted roads.
Additional Chief Secretary Rajesh Rajoura, Additional Chief Secretary, General Administration, Sanjay Dubey, Principal Secretary Sanjay Kumar Shukla, Principal Secretary, Finance, Manish Rastogi, and departmental officers were present in the meeting.
