Coming up: Policy on paver blocks

Ramkrishan Upadhyay

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 29

For the first time, the Municipal Corporation is coming up with a policy on laying of paver blocks in the city.

The policy, prepared on the direction of Mayor Arun Sood, will be placed before the General House of the Municipal Corporation for discussion tomorrow.

The Mayor said the policy was framed keeping in mind the issues of environment and the quality of work. The new policy would ensure that the quality of the paver block was not compromised and only pavers with the ISI mark were used.

In the absence of any policy, the MC had been laying paver blocks in the city as per the whims and fancies of councillors.

Presently, there are no guidelines for the place and the length of paver block to be laid.

Sources said under the new proposal, no paver block would be allowed on the V3 roads while on V4, V5 and V6 roads, inter-locking tiles will be laid for a fixed length. In institutions like schools and colleges, these could be laid for an increased length so as to facilitate parking.

Two different types of pavers would be introduced, which would be environment-friendly and will beautify the area.

It has also been proposed to lay paver blocks with less thickness at places used by pedestrians while more thick tiles will be used at places where vehicles would be parked.

The MC spends crores on laying paver blocks every year. The UT Administration has also asked the MC to discourage its use. Residents of various sectors have complained that tiles used in their areas were of poor quality. The new policy will address such issues.

Surinder Bahga, a nominated councillor, said framing a policy for paver blocks was a step in the right direction. He said the issue had been debated on several occasions in the past and even a committee was formed to address issues associated with it but no final policy was made.

Bahga said the MC should focus on laying paver blocks that do not harm the environment.

Another councillor said laying of paver blocks should be discouraged as long as possible, adding that these should be allowed only if required urgently.