NOIDA: The Noida authority said on Sunday that the repair and resurfacing of city roads that was to be completed by May-end before the rainy season, is now set be delayed due to the shortage of material, particularly charcoal, in the light of the ongoing West Asia crisis.
According to officials, the supply of charcoal, a key component for road making, has been stopped completely. “We don’t think, we will be able to complete the road resurfacing and repair project by May-end as planned because of the non-supply of the charcoal amid the West Asia conflict,” said SP Singh, general manager of the Noida authority told HT on Sunday.
“All contractors in the city informed us that they don’t have charcoal without which the road resurfacing work cannot happen. We can’t carry out work until the charcoal supply gets restored to normal,” he added.
Notably, the Noida authority is required to build around 150 kilometres of roads in the city.
In February, the authority had planned to complete the work by May-end since during the rainy season the construction work gets disrupted due to frequent rains, said officials.
The authority allocated ₹250 crore for the project and issued multiple tenders for roads, wherever there was a requirement, they added. “So far, we have finalised tenders of ₹100 crore and selected the contractors. And the process to finalise contractors for ₹150 crore tenders is in process. But the contractors are yet to start work. They are waiting for their charcoal supply that is affected due to war. Now, there is no way out to complete the road resurfacing or repair work,” said Singh.
“Tenders were issued circle-wise and the work was to commence once the bidding process completed and agencies finalised,” he added.
According to authority officials, roads in circles 1 to 5 have been identified as the most affected, with multiple stretches reporting surface wear and potholes caused by rain and delayed maintenance. These areas will be taken up on priority under the resurfacing drive.
The engineering department was to remove the damaged top layer of the road and then lay a new bituminous layer. In locations, where the base has weakened, strengthening work was also to be carried out before resurfacing, said officials.
The project aims to make key roads pothole-free and restore smooth movement of traffic, they added.