GUWAHATI, May 18 � Taking strong exception to frequent violations of road level by road constructing agencies, especially the PWD, Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) Chairman Dhiren Baruah today said road levels were sacrosanct and no authority had the right to breach them.
Baruah also warned that any violation of road level would be viewed seriously and invite legal action.
Baruah, who visited the ongoing road repair work along the Dighalipukhuri bank, said it was a case of road level violation. �I visited the area and found that road level norms were being breached. I have also taken up the issue with the PWD authorities,� Baruah told The Assam Tribune, adding that the GMDA had earlier issued a circular on road level norms to the PWD and all other departments and agencies concerned.
�There are clear-cut guidelines for construction, repair and renovation of roads, lanes, by-lanes, drains, footpaths and other permanent structures. No road constructing authority � be it the PWD or the GMC or any other agency � can break these rules,� he added.
The GMDA Chairman termed it �regrettable� that despite the GMDA�s repeated interactions with and appeals to road constructing authorities and all related departments and agencies concerned, road level norms were being widely flouted.
�This is extremely disturbing and frustrating. I renew my appeal to the PWD and other authorities concerned to strictly adhere to road level norms. Unless this is done, Guwahati will be an unfit place to live in,� he added.
Baruah also appealed to the Guwahati Development Minister and the Chief Minister to intervene in the matter in the greater interest of the city. Commenting on the situation, the Architects Association, Assam (AAA), which had taken up the issue of road level violations one-and-a-half decades back, said that unauthorised raising of levels of roads, lanes, by-lanes, drains, pavements, house-plinths, etc., was a major factor complicating the city�s worsening civic amenities.
