During the month of July, residents in Lucknow reported incidents of road cave-ins causing inconvenience. These holes in the road typically appear after heavy rainfall, but in this case, they have appeared after only a moderate spell. The cause is believed to be the erratic digging by Jal Nigam for sewer line work. Dug-up roads are a common issue for cities, hindering traffic movement and compromising road safety.

It is the responsibility of local bodies to maintain the road network within city limits. Permission is issued by the civic body to regulate the digging or cutting of roads for civic services such as water supply, telecommunications, and electricity. However, in the case of Lucknow, it was found that the Jal Nigam did not coordinate with the MC officials and started the process of digging without considering the road’s piling strength, resulting in cave-ins. If they had coordinated, the cave-in could have been avoided. It was also found that the water department generally does not notify the civic body before digging or cutting roads. A similar incident happened in Ludhiana in July, where unauthorized digging by broadband companies resulted in a 20-foot-wide cave-in.

The restoration work is typically undertaken by the civic body, as in Ludhiana, where the MC undertook the repair work. However, in some cases, the agency responsible for digging the road may pay charges to the agency that has jurisdiction over the road.

There is a lack of a streamlined system to plan and monitor road digging activities in cities, and the overlapping responsibilities among various civic agencies can create challenges. Transparency and coordination are necessary to address these issues. For example, Varanasi MC introduced an app in 2019 to monitor road digging and repairs. In 2020, Kanpur’s District Administration created a WhatsApp group for agencies to seek permission for digging, with failure to do so resulting in an FIR against the defaulter department. These platforms have the potential to improve coordination among agencies.

Who has been digging roads in your city?