Despite dry weather, shoddy roads remain unrepaired

Traffic hold-ups and accidents on the rise in city

The Narayanan Asan Road at Ponnurunni which was resurfaced recently using BMBC tarring, despite its varying width. It is narrower than three metres at many places.

The Kochi Corporation and, to a lesser extent, the PWD have invited flak for the shoddy condition of roads that they maintain, despite contractors withdrawing their strike two months ago and local body polls just a few days away.

The poor state of roads is causing traffic hold-ups and accidents, especially so since the number of private vehicles has considerably gone up owing to the fall in demand for public transport.

Interestingly, Kochi Corporation Contractors Association has blamed representatives of rival political parties in the fray for the “inability” to do patch work or fully resurface many roads, despite the dry weather. “Once the strike against non-payment of dues got over, contractors were willing to resume road maintenance work, for which agreements were inked with the civic agency. But there was opposition from several quarters, mainly party workers and those who did not want sitting councillors to claim credit for the work. Thus many contractors had to reschedule their work,” said Chandran Pillai, patron of the association and president of All Kerala Local Body Contractors Association.

Agreements are pending for several other road work contracts. “It is sad that contractors are not able to carry out work, although the District Collector, who is in charge of the corporation, issued directions to speed up road work,” Mr. Pillai said.

On corporation officials often citing “inadequate width” as an excuse for not sanctioning BMBC resurfacing, which has a five-year guarantee, he said width was never a criterion. “It all depends on the will power and commitment of the division councillors concerned,” he said, pointing to narrow roads like Narayanan Asan Road at Ponnurunni, which was recently upgraded and resurfaced using the BMBC method.

Meanwhile, sources in the corporation said that road repair work suffered delay due to the strike by contractors.

Incidentally, the election manifesto of a prominent political front says that a permanent maintenance team will be readied, to repair potholes and undulations at the earliest. It also speaks of paving roads using the BMBC method, concrete or concrete paver blocks, to ensure durability.

The PWD is under fire for potholed arterial roads including Civil Line Road.