Residents irked by roads dug up for drainage work

Contractors have not restored damaged roads

Failure to restore roads dug up for underground drainage work in Sowripalayam, Kannabiran Mill Road area, Raja Nagar, Krishna Nagar and many other localities have troubled residents and councillors alike. Photo: S. Siva Saravanan.

The underground drainage work the Coimbatore Corporation has initiated has come as a harbinger of trouble for residents in S.N.V. Garden, Sripathy Nagar, off Sowripalayam Road, Kannabiran Mill Road and neighbouring areas.

Corporation Councillors of the area said contractors executing work dug the roads a year ago, laid pipelines, constructed chambers but did not remove the earth and waste and restore the road.

DMK Councillor V.N. Udayakumar complained that though the contractor laid the pipelines more than a year ago, he had not cared to restore the road by covering the dug portion with concrete to protect the pipe.

Pointing to the roads in the localities, he said the middle of the road had become unusable because it had not been restored. Not only that, the road width had come down, forcing road users to jostle for space.

“Thirty-foot roads have only 20 feet usable space,” he said. It had also led to increase in accidents, he added.

Ward 12 Councillor N.K. Ashok Kumar said Saramedu in Athupalam was the worst.

He accused the contractor of not fulfilling the contract obligation.

“He has not used concrete to cover the area dug for laying the pipeline connecting chamber. The dug area is on the middle of the roads and that has troubled the residents.”

During rains the condition of the roads in his ward was worse, he said, and added that residents found it difficult to move out, both with and without their vehicles.

In many places, the contractor had filled the dug area with gravel and sand and not with concrete, as he was obliged to do as per the terms of the contract, said Ward 14 Councillor R. Cheralathan.

Mr. Udayakumar, who raised the issue at the Wednesday's Council meeting, said the Corporation had completed work for only 35 km. It was supposed to complete over 520 km.

He blamed the officials for lack of supervision and failure to get the contractors to complete the work on time.

V. Soundararajan, former president, Sripathy Nagar Residents' Association, said the slow pace of work had troubled residents.

Residents were unable to move freely as the dug earth which was clay had been dumped on the roads.

Corporation sources said they would expedite work.