The road around the Power House, near Sivananda Colony, has been a cause for concern for long for residents of the area, and those who use it to move to and from North Coimbatore.
Right from the western junction at Cross Cut Road to the eastern one, also at Cross Cut Road, the horse shoe-shaped road is full of potholes, damaged speed breakers and partially filled trenches.
This has been the condition of the road for almost two years now, says former Ward 51 councillor S.J. Ashok Kumar.
Given that Cross Cut Road sees one-way traffic flow from east to west, those driving down the North Coimbatore Flyover or the subway beneath are forced to take Power House Road to reach Sivananda Colony, 100 Feet Road or Gandhipuram. The poor condition of the stretch gives a harrowing time to road users.
Motorists, particularly, have had a tough time negotiating the stretch, says R. Govindaraj, who manages a milk parlour in the area. “I've seen two-wheeler riders, especially the elderly, struggle to drive on the damaged portion. They usually swerve to the edge of the road to escape riding in front of lorries and buses, but even there the road offers no comfort.”
During rain when the water covers the potholes and blankets the damaged speed breakers, the plight of motorists is worse, says K. Rajagopal, sugar cane juice stall owner.
It is not that Power House Road alone is damaged. Many lanes and by-lanes of Tatabad and Sivananda Colony are equally bad, complains Mahalakshmi Subramaniam, a resident of the area. She along with residents had taken to the notice of the Coimbatore Corporation Commissioner the poor condition of Power House Road and also Dr. Subbarayan Road, Rajendra Prasad Road, Yard Road, Radhakrishna West Road, Tatabad IIIrd and IVth Streets, but the civic body took no action.
The residents represented in person and also through petitions but to date there has been no reply or response, leave alone remedial action, she adds.
Corporation officials say that the civic body has started patch work on the damaged stretches of the roads in the locality. It has filled wet-mix for the stones to settle. By April 18, the civic body will resume the work and complete it in a week’s time thereafter.
