Polls over, NOTA threat gone, repair work comes to halt in Kharghar

Before: The road repairs were on in full swing in many areas in Navi Mumbai before the elections, residents said. Pics/Rajesh Gupta

It's over - the display time for politicians eyeing Assembly seats has finally concluded, and so has the work on repairing and resurfacing roads in Kharghar. With the aim of luring voters ahead of the polls, abrupt resurfacing of roads had begun overnight at most places in Kharghar last week. All that work has come to a complete halt after results day, leaving most roads unattended and half done.

Even the ones that were repaired have exposed the shoddy work done by the road contractors within a week of intermediate rain that lashed many parts of the city. The road repair work also coincided with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Kharghar. Local citizen forums from Kharghar had been protesting about poor infrastructure in the area and had begun a NOTA campaign around the same time.

After: The road roller now lies parked by the side of the road after the frenetic activity last week

CIDCO officials have now blamed the rain for halting road repair works while residents are left feeling that it was all a show put up to lure the public before polls. An additional 5 MLD of water supply was announced for Kharghar earlier this month but that too hasn't seen the light of the day yet. Citizens claim that they have been fooled by the CIDCO and local civic administration.

Mangal Kamble of the Swachch Kharghar Foundation (SKF) told mid-day that she had "never witnessed such swift action over citizens' issues before." The CIDCO-appointed contractor, she said, "started work on resurfacing potholed roads at five to six locations within Kharghar on a war footing." The NOTA threat by SKF and others "made the babus and election officials aware of the unrest among residents of Kharghar, Roadpali, Kalamboli and Kamothe over the shoddy work by the elected representative in the last five years," Kamble said.

Some of the roads such as this one in sector 13 continue to be riddled with potholes even as CIDCO officials blame the rain for stopping repairs

"If they could start work at a war footing, why couldn't they finish it off too? Most arterial and main connecting roads are in shambles here. The road to Kharghar railway station is the worst; the least that could have been expected was the resurfacing of the road. It has, however, exposed the quality of work. This is a waste of tax-payers' money," Kamble alleged.

Water promises down the drain Three-time Panvel MLA Prashant Thakur (now a BJP member) had earlier told mid-day that road resurfacing work had been undertaken across the constituency (Kharghar, Kalamboli, Kamothe, and Panvel), and "the tendering been done before the start of monsoon." Work on it "was to begin soon after Ganesh Chaturthi but work got delayed due to an extended monsoon and began only this week," he said.

Some of the roads outside Sadguru housing society that continue to be in poor state

The promise of an additional water supply of 5 MLD was also made before the elections for residents of Kharghar and Roadpali. According to Kamble, these areas did get additional water supply for a few hours but it was stopped owing to technical glitches.

Kharghar requires 75 MLD of water daily and receives around 55 MLD. CIDCO officials say that the problem of water supply will persist for some more time as additional pipelines are being laid although they need to supply water on priority to Taloja jail and the central reserve police quarters.

Shailendra Verma, a resident of sector 8, Kharghar, said, "I feel that Kharghar has not been given its due and all the promises of development have never been fulfilled. Earlier, CIDCO was the nodal agency. They would maintain the roads and other infrastructure but since it has been declared a part of Panvel Municipal Corporation (PMC), there is a slowdown in the services rendered by CIDCO."

Similar promises were made in Taloja too but they continue to remain on paper. The metro connectivity between CBD Belapur and Taloja is also delayed. "It is doubtful whether it will see the light of the day by mid next year too," Verma said.

5mld
Extra water supply promised to Kharghar before elections

270
No. of plots CIDCO will give to Panvel civic body

55mld
Quantity of water supply to Kharghar

75mld
Quantity of water Kharghar needs

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