Deliver, Don’t Delay

Public works are the most direct reflection of governance because they affect people in their everyday lives. Roads, bridges, school buildings, hospitals, public offices, guest houses, and safety infrastructure are not just development assets. They are essential services that connect citizens with opportunities, markets, education, healthcare, and administration. In Jammu and Kashmir, where difficult terrain, weather conditions, and scattered habitations often make infrastructure delivery more challenging, the performance of the Public Works Department assumes even greater importance.

The recent review of ongoing PWD projects by Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary is therefore a timely and necessary step. His clear direction for time-bound completion, strict quality control, and visible accountability sends a strong message that delays and poor execution cannot be treated as routine administrative matters. Every pending road, incomplete bridge, or delayed public building has a direct cost for the people. It affects commuters, students, patients, traders, and residents who depend on public infrastructure for daily convenience and safety. The emphasis on works under Roads and Buildings, PMGSY, Cities and Towns, NABARD, CRIF, RIDF, pothole repairs, the mechanical wing, and other infrastructure components highlights the wide responsibility of the department. These projects shouldn’t get stuck in files, procedural hurdles, or slow field execution. The government has rightly underlined that there should be no tolerance for unnecessary delay, spillover, administrative lapse, or compromise with quality standards. Quality must remain at the centre of all public works. A road that breaks soon after completion, a bridge that faces repeated delay, a parapet that fails to provide safety or a building that remains unfinished despite expenditure weakens public faith. Public money must result in durable and useful assets. The direction to senior engineers and field officers to conduct regular site visits is important because progress cannot be judged only through office reports. Real monitoring happens at the project site, where the pace, quality and seriousness of execution can be assessed properly. The warning against contractors causing undue delays is also necessary. Contractors entrusted with public projects must understand that they are not handling private convenience but public responsibility. At the same time, departments must ensure that technical sanctions, tendering, allotments, clearances and payments are processed without avoidable delay. Accountability must be firm, but it must also be fair and comprehensive. Both executing agencies and administrative wings must work with urgency. The focus on blacktopping, road widening, restoration works and major bridge projects is especially important for Jammu and Kashmir. Road connectivity is a lifeline in hilly, border and remote areas. Delays in road works do not merely inconvenience people. They affect emergency healthcare, education, trade, tourism, agriculture and security-related mobility. Projects such as the the Ramban Bridge, Majalta Bridge, Pragwal-Inderpati Bridge, Boulevard Road, the New Assembly Complex Jammu and PWD Guest Houses at Udhampur and Hyderpora need focused attention and constant monitoring. The direction to resolve land, forest and compensation cases quickly also reflects a practical understanding of project delays. Many infrastructure works suffer because departments fail to coordinate in time. Regular interdepartmental follow-up must remove these bottlenecks. Development cannot move at the speed of scattered paperwork. It requires coordination, responsibility and timely decision-making. Public safety must also remain a non-negotiable priority. The instruction to submit a detailed report on the Ramnagar accident and immediately replace poorly constructed parapets at identified locations is a serious reminder that infrastructure quality is directly linked with human lives. Roads and bridges must ensure safety, strength, and suitability for local conditions. Weak protective works cannot be ignored until tragedy exposes the failure.

The proposal to display bar charts at project sites is a welcome step towards transparency. When timelines and progress are visible, the public becomes better informed and executing agencies remain under constructive pressure. Such monitoring should be made a regular practice across major projects.Jammu and Kashmir needs public works governance that is efficient, accountable and uncompromising on quality. The real achievement will be visible when deadlines are respected, contractors are made accountable, officers remain present in the field and citizens see completed, safe and durable infrastructure. Development must not remain an announcement. It must become a visible reality on the ground.