Chandigarh, June 19 -- Though the Chandigarh municipal corporation (MC) is planning to resume road carpeting 'only in priority areas' amid a prolonged financial crunch and a year-long suspension of roadworks, it is yet to zero in on the specific stretches that will be taken up under the limited Rs.10 crore budgetavailable for the current phase. An internal assessment submitted last month by the MC's road wing revealed that nearly 225 kilometres of city roads are in "very poor" condition and require urgent repairs, with an estimated cost of Rs.33 crore. "We are yet to finalise the roads and start the work", said officials from MC's engineering department, adding that the work is now expected to start only in October. The MC is responsible for maintaining over 2,000 kilometre of roads, including V-3 (sector-dividing roads), V-4 (shopping streets), V-5 (sector circulation roads), and V-6 (access roads to houses), as well as parking lots across various sectors, rehabilitation colonies, andvillages. The body is currently struggling due to a severe financial shortfall, delaying essential roadworks. Typically, road carpeting is carried out during favourable weather conditions in March-April and October-November. However, due to the ongoing financial crisis, the work has been suspended since May 2024. While paperwork for major projects was completed months ago, the process of opening tenders has been stalled due to the budget shortfall. However, to make sure that the crucial weather condition bracket is not missed, municipal commissioner Amit Kumar had directed officials in April to conduct field inspections and create a detailed priority list of roads riddled with potholes or are in a visibly deteriorated condition. "Directions have been given to identify roads that require carpeting on a priority basis. A proper list will be made and work will start only after inspection," Kumar said. As per the internal report, the backlog of road repairs is spread across three divisions of the MC's road wing. In Division 1, approximately 45.25km of roads, including key internal roads in Sectors 34, 35, 42, 48, 49, and 56 have been marked as "very poor." Some of these roads were last carpeted in 2016. The estimated cost of repairing them is Rs.5.9 crore. Division 2, covering areas like Mauli Jagran, Vikas Nagar, Modern Housing Complex and Indira Colony, has the highest number of damaged roads-about 84km. The estimated cost for carpeting these roads is Rs.13.77 crore. In Division 3, nearly 95km of roads, primarily sector-dividing V-3 roads (such as those between Sectors 10 and 11, 15 and 24, 20 and 21, and 23 and 24), require repairs, with an estimated cost of Rs.14 crore. City councillor Saurabh Joshi, addressing officials and members of the Chandigarh municipal corporation's water supply and sewerage disposal committee on Wednesday, expressed serious concern over the city's slow monsoon preparedness. With only 72% of road gullies and stormwater drains cleaned so far, Joshi warned of severe waterlogging in low-lying areas if the issue isn't addressed before the monsoon sets in. He said he would personally navigate a boat throughwaterlogged streets and invite UT administrator Gulab Chand Kataria to witness thesituation....