Several roads in the city and its immediate suburbs are in a pathetic state thanks to the alleged failure of the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) and Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) to restore them temporarily after digging them to lay pipelines and cables.
Worse, many more roads are still being dug up although the monsoon is less than 10 days away. Most roads had been either resurfaced in accordance with the BMBC (bitumen macadam and bitumen concrete) specifications during the past two years or had been covered using concrete paver blocks to withstand flooding and frequent movement of heavy vehicles.
The worst case is that of the 4.5-km Thammanam-Ponnurunni-Subhash Bose Road-Jawahar Nagar-Ernakulam South stretch, which runs parallel to SA Road. The KWA is yet to complete its pipe-laying work although it had begun digging up the road over six months ago. So much so that people wake up each morning to find new areas being trenched.
Police case
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was at the forefront of agitations demanding speedy restoration and resurfacing of the road. The situation has not improved despite the Kadavanthra Police registering an FIR earlier this year after a car owned by Benny Joseph, State convenor of Janapaksham (an NGO), suffered damage to the tune of ₹1.50 lakh after it fell into an improperly-restored portion of the road. The engineer and contractor concerned had to obtain bail in the case.
Mr. Joseph cited a 2004 High Court order making it mandatory to obtain the permission of the District Collector for trenching roads. The agency and the contractor concerned must also display a board showing details like the name of the contractor and the duration of the work. None of these has been adhered to even at Kathrikadavu where a 1-km road has become unusable as the KWA has been digging it for the past two months, he said.
Whatever is left of the tarred portion of the narrow and congested Pandit Karuppan Road, which links Thevara and Kundannur bridge, too is in peril of being washed away during the rainy season, with the trenches dug by the KWA on either side of the road yet to be properly covered.
Flyover work delayed
The KWA also played spoilsport with the flyover construction at Kundannur after the inordinate delay in laying pipelines slowed down work on the eastern side, said an RBDCK official.
Meanwhile, a senior KWA official said the agency hoped to complete pipe-laying work in all dug-up corridors before the onset of monsoon. “Ductile iron pipes having 50-cm diameter are being laid through major roads, and we cannot adopt the push-through method [wherein the road surface is not damaged] which is relied on to lay smaller pipelines,” he added.
“The Kochi Corporation and the PWD do not permit us to tarcoat the dug-up portion, following which we remit the requisite amount with the agencies. It is up to them to do the repair work in trenches that have been filled,” the official said.
On its part, the KSEB has extensively scooped out the Vennala-Palachuvadu-Seaport-Airport Road corridor, which runs parallel to Civil Line Road, to lay power cables. The road is maintained by the PWD (Roads Wing).
Contractors not keen
P.M. Harris, chairman of the corporation works standing committee, said road repair and resurfacing work suffered major delay this year as the model code of conduct was in force till May 23. “Moreover, contractors are not keen to take up road work, citing delay in clearing dues. On their part, the contractors can do a cost-effective and durable job if they adopt modern work practices,” he added.
Road contractors cite increasing cost of raw materials as a reason for delaying resurfacing work. “The corporation pays low rates, to get which we have to wait for over two years. Still, we have asked the contractors to speed up road, drain and canal work,” said Chandran Pillai, State president of LSG Department Contractors’ Federation.
Gas pipelines
Sources said problems posed by road-trenching might get worse later this year since the agencies concerned have sought permission to lay gas pipelines through arterial and side roads.