Ranchi: With the festive season under way, the Jharkhand road construction department (RCD) has mandated engineers across all divisions to ensure round-the-clock maintenance and flawless transit conditions across all state roads, bridges, and allied infrastructure.“With upcoming festivals like Kali Puja, Diwali, and Chhath festivals, heavy movement of devotees and the general public is expected across the state. During these festivals, maintaining every departmental road, artery, and feeder route in a completely safe, smooth, and traffic-worthy condition is the primary responsibility of the department,” principal secretary of the state road construction department Sunil Kumar said.The department has sanctioned extensive repair schemes under non-scheme heads alongside regular projects. Also, discretionary funds have been released directly to all divisions to ensure financial bottlenecks do not hamper execution of the works, sources said.Instructions have also been issued to ensure that stretches connecting major Kali Puja pandals, immersion sites, and Chhath ghats are rendered completely pothole-free and traffic-worthy in alignment with prescribed technical specifications.Keeping in mind the practice of worshippers walk barefoot over long distances carrying offerings during Chhath festival, field teams have been asked to ensure that the stretches are free of sharp gravel, debris, or surface irregularities.Field officers have been directed to undertake rigorous, ground-level inspections within their respective jurisdictions for immediate remedial measures.Officials have been asked to chalk out effective diversion plans for emergency situations, complete with prominent signboards, retro-reflective indicators, and appropriate road safety furniture along designated detour routes.The secretary warned that any compromise in executing these repair works will invite strict disciplinary action, with concerned officers held personally accountable.Meanwhile, reviewing departmental progress on Thursday, Kumar ordered officials to complete all road projects, especially in the capital, within the deadlines. The meeting revealed that several projects were lagging due to delays in land acquisition, utility shifting, and procedural formalities. He instructed officials to divide work into phased segments on available land while coordinating with the district administration and land acquisition officers to clear bottlenecks.To address delays, the principal secretary wrote to all deputy commissioners requesting regular joint reviews with the RCD. He pointed out that delays in land acquisition and forest land diversion were hurting road widening and reconstruction schemes, leading to cost overruns.