GUWAHATI, May 13 � Kamrup (Metro) Deputy Commissioner Dr M Angamuthu today said that no road construction authority such as the PWD had the right to increase the level of a road while renovating or repairing it.
He also asserted that road level violations would be treated seriously by the district administration and called upon the public to inform the administration of any violation of road level in the city.
�Nobody can violate the rules concerning road level. While renovating or repairing any road, the contractor is not allowed either to increase or decrease the height of the road. The PWD is responsible for maintenance of roads. But if there are any specific complaints that the height of a particular road has been raised, then we will look into the matter and take action after verification. However, we need to have specific complaints,� Dr Angamuthu told The Assam Tribune.
Road level violation has been the standard practice in the city, as also in other parts of the State, with roads gaining several inches of height every time those are repaired or resurfaced.
Reacting to the Deputy Commissioner�s assertion, the Association of Architects, Assam (AAA) said that rather than waiting for public complaints the administration officials should go and visit any area where a road is under repair.
�This is because there is nothing surreptitious about the raising of road level in the city or for that matter, anywhere in the State. The standard practice followed by the PWD � which does not take the trouble of digging up the road before repairing � has been to simply put another layer on it. This has been happening for decades,� Tikendrajit Saikia, president, AAA, said.
Saikia added that almost all the city roads including the by-lanes had gained considerable height in the past one-and-a-half decades due to frequent repairing.
