Chandigarh: Chandigarh’s road recarpeting drive has suffered a major setback, with the municipal corporation completing only about 26% of its planned works this summer due to an acute shortage of bitumen. With the monsoon setting in and road works now suspended, nearly three-fourths of the city’s scheduled recarpeting remains pending.MC records show that of the 1,038 km of roads earmarked and allotted for recarpeting this year, only 279 km were completed before the rains. Works covering about 759km of roads are still pending.Officials attributed the slowdown to a shortage of bitumen supplied by oil companies, a situation they linked to disruptions in crude oil availability amid the recent geopolitical tensions involving the US and Iran. The setback comes a year after recarpeting works were hit by a funds crunch, resulting in two consecutive years of below-par road maintenance.Of the Rs 116 crore worth of recarpeting works planned this year, the MC has executed projects worth only about Rs 42.65 crore, leaving works valued at Rs 73.4 crore unfinished. The pending projects include roads in residential sectors, sector-dividing roads and parking areas in commercial hubs, colonies and villages.Officials said many roads that could not be resurfaced in 2025-26 because of financial constraints had been prioritised this year. Although the works were awarded in advance, contractors struggled to procure bitumen.Sources said contractors, who usually source bitumen from IOCL’s Panipat plant, faced severe supply constraints. Some also explored sourcing material from HPCL’s Bathinda unit but reportedly received no firm commitment. Most of the remaining works are now expected to resume only after the monsoon, subject to improvement in bitumen availability.
