State PWD mulls system to get feedback on road condition

KOLKATA: Giving top priority to development of Covid management infrastructure, the state Public Works Department (PWD) also mulls the introduction of a system to get immediate feedback on road condition from every part of the state. The step would help to speed up the repairing of roads.

"At present our only priority is to carry out the works needed for further development of infrastructure to fight against Covid. The state PWD is carrying out most of the infrastructure related work for Covid management. Hence, the first priority is to save lives of people," said Moloy Ghatak, who became the state PWD minister in the third term of the Mamata Banerjee government. Ghatak held the first meeting after becoming the minister of the department at Nabanna on Wednesday. Many of the senior officers and engineers attended the meeting physically while some were present through virtual mode. A powerpoint presentation was given to the minister about each and every aspect of the department and also about the major ongoing projects. The PWD is one of the nodal agencies in the state that strengthens, widens and maintains roads across the state. "The monsoon is approaching and it would again lead to potholes and craters on many roads. Not only after the monsoon, but whenever any officer spots a road in a poor condition must give immediate feedback to the department and there has to be a system so that the repairing work can be taken up without any delay to avoid inconvenience to the people of Bengal," the minister said.

Round-the-year monitoring of the condition of bridges, those maintained by the state PWD, has come up as another crucial issue in Wednesday's meeting.