The guidelines prepared by Rajuk and discussed at yesterday's meeting of DCC One-Stop Service Cell banned road digging in June, July and August because of monsoon rain and made the use of modern equipment in digging mandatory.

"We have accepted the guidelines to make sure digging and repairs of roads are carried out by deadline," said Mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka, who presided over the One Stop Service Cell meeting.

The cell was formed more than five months ago for coordination among the utility service providers, often blamed for haphazard road digging across the city.

Khoka said that there were no proper guidelines on road digging before and hoped the new set of rules would help complete digging and repairs in time.

The guidelines say the DCC will keep a database of the road network and the utility agencies have to provide it with drawings of their existing, under-installation and proposed gas, water, telephone and sewerage lines for digging approval.

The guidelines also say the utility service providers have to use modern equipment to ensure that digging and repairs are complete within the quickest possible time.

Any utility agency will have to set up a nameplate at the digging site to provide information about the timeframe of digging and repair.

In future, installation of utility lines by Titas Gas, Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board and Water and Sewerage Authority will be under sidewalks of newly constructed roads, Khoka said.

Except for primary roads, the utility agencies have to contact the DCC zonal offices for approval and the DCC chief engineer will approve road cutting by individuals.

Rajuk Chairman Iqbal Uddin Chowdhury, attending the meeting, has complained that the utility agencies after getting approval hand the digging responsibility over to unskilled people who create different problems.

"The mounds of earth from the ruptured roads have to be removed in 24 hours after digging so as not to block the way of vehicles and pedestrians," Iqbal said.

Representatives of Desa, Wasa, Titas, BTTB and the traffic department of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, among other organisations, attended the meeting at the Nagar Bhaban.

Sources said Rajuk prepared the draft guidelines upon directives from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO). A meeting chaired by Prime Minister's Principal Secretary Kamal Uddin Siddiqui instructed the Rajuk chairman to work out the guidelines.