Soon, audit cell for road projects

NEW DELHI: The problems of potholes on newly constructed roads or entire stretches caving in after rains will soon be addressed. A proposal for setting up an audit cell to check the planning, safety and quality norms in all major infrastructure projects has been given a green signal by the LG's office. The composition of the audit cell is under process, said sources.

"The composition of the audit cell is going to be formalised soon. It will consist of members from institutes such as CRRI, IIT, NCBM (National Council of Building Materials), DTU and others as well as Jagori (for women safety audit)," said a senior official. The proposal will apply to all future projects that come to Unified Traffic and Transportation, Planning and Engineering, Centre (UTTIPEC) for approval.

The audit will consist of two parts: a planning and safety audit of the project that will be taken up before the execution of the project; and an audit of the quality or site check, which will be based on "critical engineering aspects" and will be carried out when the progress of the work is 25-50% and 80% complete. The quality of material such as bitumen, aggregate etc will be checked by taking samples from the site, says the proposal, which gives a check-list of tests that can be carried out. The quality audit team will be empanelled, said the official.

UTTIPEC is also finalising the terms of reference or scope of study which includes submission of detailed design and drawings of the approved plans to facilitate planning and engineering audit during the execution stage, explained sources. "The audit will create a template of design and implementation for all infrastructure projects in Delhi. At present, while third party audits are carried out by the civic agency, there is no basic minimum standard that is maintained across all projects," said the official. These audits will be separate from the third party audit carried out by the agencies. The basis of the two audits will be the street design guidelines as set by UTTIPEC. For the quality audit, the guidelines are the IRC/BIS specifications, added the official.

That current road development and other infrastructure projects require more planning is evident from the independent audits carried out by NGOs. Last month, a joint study by NGOs and an international university found several points of lacunae in the pedestrian and traffic movement plan of Nehru Place. From lack of a designated system for pedestrians to traffic eating into footpaths, the study had showed the lack of safety and planning in the busy commercial hub.

Source: The Times of India, Delhi Edition, 02.11.2012

Source: The Indian Express, Delhi Edition, 02.11.2012

City’s Footpaths Too High to be Used, Violate All Norms

A giant step backwards

CITY’S FOOTPATHS TOO HIGH TO BE USED, VIOLATE ALL NORMS

Indrani Basu TNN

New Delhi:Imagine having to raise your legs up to a feet or more to take a footpath. If the state public works department (PWD) has its way, walking on the pavement in Delhi may become quite a task, thanks to mindless construction by the public works department. And no, there is no way anyone can be penalized for the faulty construction.

In a gross violation of the street design guidelines, the PWD is constructing 19-inch high footpaths in Kirti Nagar. The norm is of six inches. When a TOI team visited the area, it found that the agency had built most of the footpaths along Satguru Ram Singh Marg at this height without placing any slanting kerb ramps for easy access. Also, wherever there were ramps, those were too steep. In some areas, as many as three steps had to be constructed to provide access to a footpath.
As per street design guidelines issued by DDA planning body UTTIPEC in 2010, height of a footpath cannot exceed six inches; the footpaths must have a ramp of the slope 1:12 and must have tactile paving both at the beginning and along the footpath.

When TOI spoke to engineers in charge of the construction on the stretch, they shifted the blame on the area municipal commission of Delhi (MCD). “These roads were earlier with MCD . The MCD had constructed high drains on this road, and the footpaths have to be built on top of that. As a result, the footpath is high,” said an engineer.

“However, we will also be relaying the road, which will add four inches to the current height of the road,” assured the engineer. However, UTTIPEC guidelines state that in case a road will be re-carpeted after a footpath is built, reduction in footpath height till 100 mm (four inches) is permitted, but under no circumstances should a footpath be higher than 150 mm (six inches).

TOI found that none of these footpaths have tactile paving (yellow footpath tiles that act as warning and guiding blocks for the visually impaired), and access ramps are either missing, too steep or replaced with steps that cannot be used by those on wheelchairs. “All UTTIPEC street design guidelines have to be followed for all new construction. Engineers are well aware of this as we have had numerous meetings on this under the chairmanship of L-G Tejendra Khanna,” said UTTIPEC director Ashok Bhattacharjee.
However, a senior official said, “Forget UTTIPEC guidelines, even basic IRC guidelines are not being followed. The footpath being constructed in Kirti Nagar is just one of the glaring examples of public road structures that serve no actual purpose and have resulted in wastage of large amount of public money.” While UTTIPEC has brought this matter to the notice of the L-G in a written complaint, there is currently no penalization provision in place to punish the road owning agencies.

Source: Times of India