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Vijay Mohan
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, June 24
After security concerns over opening up of cantonment roads to civilian traffic rocked the defence establishment, the issue of maintenance and load-bearing capacity of such roads has cropped up, with the cash-strapped Military Engineer Services (MES) looking towards state governments to pitch in for repair and upgradation works.
According to MES sources, the specifications of roads in cantonments are meant to cater to light volume of traffic and vehicles with low axle load and accordingly, the annual maintenance grant made available to MES is on an average Rs 8 per square metre, whereas the grant for a state or national highway is very high.
With the recent order of the Defence Minister to open up all roads in the 62 cantonments across the country for civilian thoroughfare, traffic on these roads has increased manifold. Moreover, the MES has been receiving lesser funds than authorised to take up road maintenance works, sources said.
“It is, therefore, recommended that station authorities shall press upon state authorities to take up maintenance of some of the roads subjected to heavy traffic through their funds and also apprise higher headquarters to release more funds for road maintenance and widening in order to cope up with this recent development,” one such letter written a Commander Works Engineer in the MES to higher formations states. “The state authorities are also required to be apprised about manning traffic on military roads in view of the increased volume,” the letter adds.
According to MES engineers, the prescribed top layer and underlying layers of public highways are two-three times thicker than the specifications laid down for roads in cantonments. “The specification for resurfacing of an MES road is 30 mm whereas for a state highway it is 75 mm,” an engineer said. “The volume of traffic on roads already open to the public is too heavy. Development of potholes, damage to berms and degradation of surface will increase requiring greater quantum of works for which neither is the MES adequately equipped nor are requisite finances available,” he added.
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