‘Know Your Road’: 2.5k QR codes on signboards planned in 60-day phased rollout

New Delhi: Soon, you can flag a pothole or a damaged stretch on a Delhi road by simply scanning a QR code on signboards placed along it.Delhi govt’s ‘Know Your Road’ project, part of a broader transparency push for Public Works Department (PWD) roads, is moving towards a phased rollout across a 1,400-km network.PWD has floated bids and earmarked nearly Rs 96 lakh for the implementation, operation and maintenance of the QR-enabled system. The initiative aims to give citizens instant access to detailed information about the roads they use daily while also creating a real-time complaint and monitoring mechanism. The platform will support Hindi, Punjabi and English.The project is designed to address several long-standing gaps in road management in Delhi.

At present, there is no unified public-facing database detailing when a city road was built or last repaired or maintained. Citizens have limited visibility into maintenance schedules, while accountability on contractors and supervising engineers often remains difficult to track. Complaints, too, are rarely linked directly to a specific stretch.Under the project, every PWD road will have a unique QR code marked on signboards along it.

Scanning the code will take users to a citizen portal with details, such as the road’s maintenance history and officials in charge. The system will also include a grievance redressal platform, administrative dashboard and analytics tools to track complaints and repair work.The rollout has been planned in phases and is expected to be completed within 60 days of the bids being awarded. It will begin with digitisation of road records, followed by platform development, pilot implementation, citywide deployment and finally, operations and maintenance.During the first two weeks, officials will focus on collecting and digitising road data, mapping road IDs, zones, divisions, engineers and contractors, and generating QR codes. The system is expected to go live with five roads. In the third week, the pilot phase will expand to 100 roads. Officials will test scan speed, complaint workflow and dashboard reporting systems before carrying out final refinements.Between weeks four and eight, parallel field teams will begin a full-scale rollout across Delhi, including the installation of nearly 2,500 QR codes on both sides of the roads.

The citizen portal is also expected to go live during this phase.The operation and support phase will continue thereafter, covering data updates, maintenance requests, dashboard monitoring and monthly reporting. The long-term plan includes live maintenance record updates, annual road health audits and continuous monitoring of the system.For implementation, the selected agency will deploy a dedicated team, including a project manager for execution and milestone tracking, a technology lead for platform development, field coordinators for on-ground installations and quality assurance executives for testing and validation.Sources said if any signboard is found to be damaged, the concerned PWD department will be asked to repair or replace it to ensure proper QR installation. The same process will apply in cases where existing signboards do not have adequate space for QR codes. During the annual maintenance contract (AMC) period, any damaged or non-functional QR code will be replaced by the implementing agency after being flagged by PWD, officials added.