Verbal Alignment Change on a Sanctioned Road
You are a junior engineer in a state public works department. A road-widening estimate for a 2.4 km stretch has been technically sanctioned. During execution, the local elected representative visits the site and verbally directs you to shift the centre line by 6 m on a 300 m stretch so that the widened road passes through a privately owned plot. The representative says the landowner has agreed and that the change will avoid cutting two trees. No revised drawings, land-acquisition order, or written approval from the executive engineer has been received. The contractor is ready to mobilise within 24 hours and claims the verbal instruction is enough because the representative chairs the local development committee. You must decide what to do and what records to create.
1. What is the main governance problem with obeying the oral instruction?
Read the worked answer
The elected representative has a political and oversight role, not executive power to alter a technically sanctioned work. A 6 m shift changes the alignment, may require private land, affects the approved estimate and drawings, and could alter tree-cutting requirements. Without a revised drawing, land availability or acquisition order, and written approval from the competent executive authority, the change would be unauthorised. Obeying it would create a financial and legal irregularity even if the landowner has informally agreed. Avoiding tree cutting may be desirable, but it must be processed through the proper technical and administrative route.
2. List the immediate steps you would take, in order, and the records you would create.
Read the worked answer
- Do not allow the contractor to mobilise for the shifted alignment.
- Politely inform the representative that a written direction and revised approval are required before any change.
- Record the oral instruction in the site diary with date, time, place, and the representative's name.
- Inform the executive engineer in writing the same day, seeking written instructions.
- Request a revised alignment drawing, land availability or consent document, tree assessment, and revised technical sanction.
- Take photographs and measurements of the existing centre line and the proposed shift.
- Continue only the unaffected portion of the sanctioned work, and follow up in writing until the approval is received.
3. If the representative threatens to complain against you for delay, how should you respond?
Read the worked answer
Respond factually and in writing: the delay is caused by pending approval for a change outside the sanctioned scope, not by wilful obstruction. Report the threat to the executive engineer through the proper channel and keep a copy of the site diary and correspondence. Do not authorise unauthorised work merely to avoid a complaint. Public-service conduct requires lawful written orders, avoidance of undue favour, and protection of public funds. If pressure continues, escalate through the departmental hierarchy rather than acting on verbal instructions.