Central Public Works Department now fixes time frame to address woes

NEW DELHI: In a first such move, Central Public Works Department ( CPWD), which is responsible for maintenance of 1.76 lakh government houses across 53 cities, has specified a time-frame for attending to different complaints. It's 6 hours for blocked drains or restoration of water and power supply and a maximum of three days for cleaning drains and overflow of water.

CPWD has come out with a "maintenance charter", approved by urban development minister M Venkaiah Naidu, an official release said. The government has also made a provision for Rs 1,202 crore for maintenance works for the current financial year.

Besides government accommodation, CPWD is responsible for maintaining office area of a total of 22.6 lakh sq metres, including some well known monumental and prestigious buildings such as the President's Estate, Parliament House and the Supreme Court, apart from hospitals, colleges and sports complexes.

As per the maintenance charter, CPWD is required to inform the public the time-frame for attending to different complaints. For major complaints such as internal wiring and repair of doors and windows the maximum time limit set is 30 days. As for periodical services such as white washing, painting and cleaning water tanks, it's 60 days.

CPWD had earlier introduced two toll-free phone lines -18002664499 and 1899114499 for lodging maintenance complaints from any of the 53 cities across the country. Action taken would be informed to the complainants on their mobile phone numbers.