Roads that are battered and full of potholes have become commonplace in the city.
Ironically, at a time when people are put to much hardship because of these back-breaking roads, police and transport department officials observed ‘Road Safety Week’ on Sunday with Minister Sellur K. Raju inaugurating an expo of safe driving practices.
When the fact remained that bad roads caused accidents, the officials should have repaired them on a war footing, said R. Annadurai, Communist Party of India MLA.
“The bad condition of Mayor Muthu Bridge on the busy TPK Road stood as an example of official apathy towards maintenance of roads. After the withdrawal of monsoon, the highways authorities should have carried out repairs on the roads and bridges, but they are yet to start the work,” he said.
On Friday, the CPI (M) members staged a sit-in demonstration near the Mayor Muthu Bridge, demanding the authorities to repair the bridge on a war footing. When traffic paralysed in both directions of the bridge as vehicles piled up, the police summoned highways engineers.
A team led by Assistant Engineer G. Rangapandian arrived on the scene and assured to carry out repairs on the bridge immediately, following which the agitators dispersed.
A traffic police official said since two-wheeler riders were unable to spot the potholes on roads at night, it led to accidents.
With very few riders wearing helmets, cases of head injuries in accident cases were on the rise, he said.
