Why are our cities digging the same roads again and again?

Every year, just after a road is opened to traffic, excavators return. The municipality may resurface a stretch only to see it dug up within weeks to lay a water pipeline, fix a sewer, lay an electricity cable, expand a gas network or pull fibre-optic lines for telecommunications companies. The cycle is so frequent that for millions of commuters, road digging is a permanent feature, not an occasional inconvenience. While authorities often point to pressing infrastructure needs, urban planners say the real problem lies in the lack of coordination among the multiple agencies responsible for India’s fast-growing cities.A familiar urban nightmare played out across IndiaWhether it is Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune or Kolkata, residents are used to navigating through barricades, diversions and half-dug roads. Many times, a road paid for with public funds is good for one season, and then another department digs it up.