Kochi: It’s only a week since the monsoon has set in and the roads in the city have gone to the dogs putting the commuters in deep trenches virtually. DC speaks to the authorities to find out when they will become motorable.
PWD
A total of 15 PWD roads pass through the city and the total area covered is 80 km. A senior PWD official in Kochi said the repairs of the roads under the PWD were being done, including filling of potholes.
"This is also done when rains abate. However, tarring will be possible only after the rains are over. Choked drains also damage the roads and the civic bodies are responsible for this. The post of Executive Engineer of PWD Ernakulam division now remains vacant while the Assistant Executive Engineer, Aluva, takes care of Ernakulam Division," he said.
Corporation & GCDA
"Patchworks of damaged roads are being carried out during the dry spell. But the arterial roads like SA Road can be re-laid only after the Metro works are over. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has been asked to carry out emergency patchworks along the Metro corridor, said Mayor Soumini Jain.
Meanwhile, the road development proposals for the next fiscal using plan funds will be submitted for the approval of council and the District Planning Cell soon.
"Though the City Corporation owns very few arterial roads, the civic authorities are blamed for the poor condition of roads owned by other agencies. Most of the major roads in the city are owned by NHAI, PWD, GCDA and KWA and the local body can't take up any repairing on such roads" added Ms. Jain.
Meanwhile, GCDA secretary R. Lalu told DC that the agency has only three roads in its ownership — Bund Road, Kaloor-Kadavanthra Road and Stadium Link Road of which only the Kaloor-Kathrikadavu stretch is in a dilapidated condition.
"The repairing work has been delayed only because of the adamant attitude of the State Election Commission. Now, the contractor has been asked to fill the big potholes as proper relaying is possible only after the monsoon," he added.
DMRC
"We're filling up the potholes on a temporary basis all along the metro corridor. Permanent resurfacing is possible only after the monsoon season, by around August. The DMRC had earlier given a proposal for building a proper drainage canal to prevent waterlogging in the city areas. Unfortunately the same was not approved by the government," said Dani Thomas, DMRC project director.
A KMRL official said it had asked the DMRC to complete the resurfacing works along the entire corridor, including the SA Road, before the onset of monsoon. However, the works got delayed and no city roads were repaired which resulted in the dilapidated condition of roads.
