In a bid to tackle the long-standing issue of damaged roads in the national capital, Delhi Chief Minister Atishi, along with her cabinet ministers, began inspections on Monday, September 30, aiming to ensure pothole-free roads by Diwali. The move is part of a broader infrastructure initiative launched after Atishi took over as CM, following Arvind Kejriwal?s resignation.
Accompanied by engineers from the Public Works Department (PWD), Atishi visited various locations in south and southeast Delhi, where she assessed the condition of the roads and outlined the city's plan to complete repairs before the festive season. Addressing the media, she said, ?For two days, Arvind Kejriwal and I inspected the roads of Delhi and found that the condition is very bad... We are committed to restoring the roads at the earliest.?
Atishi assigned cabinet ministers specific areas to oversee repairs. The ministers responsible for other districts include:
- Saurabh Bharadwaj: East Delhi
- Gopal Rai: Northeast Delhi
- Imran Hussain: Central and New Delhi districts
- Kailash Gehlot: Southwest and Outer Delhi
- Mukesh Sehrawat: Northwest Delhi
Atishi emphasized, "In the next 3-4 months, all roads will be restored... Our goal is to give Delhi residents pothole-free roads by Diwali.?
Kejriwal?s Push for Road Repairs
Atishi's inspection follows a directive from Arvind Kejriwal, who also personally assessed the city's road conditions with her last week. Speaking on the urgency of the repairs, former Deputy CM Manish Sisodia blamed the BJP for the deterioration of Delhi's infrastructure: "The BJP destroyed all the roads of Delhi to trouble the people. But now that Kejriwal is back, all pending work will be finished quickly."
Sisodia further added that roads had been left in poor condition for months, with open potholes and incomplete work stretching over extended periods. ?Now, we will fix this and work on the roads on a war footing.?
Timeline and Plans
A day before the city-wide inspections, Atishi chaired a review meeting where ministers were tasked with road inspections in their designated areas. The inspections will run for a week, after which repairs will be carried out, with the goal of completing the project by the end of October.
Atishi's team will focus on ensuring that all major roads are repaired swiftly to minimize public inconvenience ahead of Diwali, one of the busiest travel periods in the capital.
