The assistant engineer and contractor concerned will be held responsible for accidents occurring due to bad condition of roads and bridges, District Collector K. Mohammed Y. Safirulla has said.
In an order passed on Monday under the Disaster Management Act, he said that they will also have to face legal issues arising out of such accidents. Road accidents have become common place on damaged stretches in Ernakulam district due to inordinate delay by government agencies in repairing them. Official apathy will not be allowed to continue, he told a group of engineers from PWD, Kochi Corporation, and local bodies at a meeting convened here on Monday in the wake of a young bike rider dying after the vehicle fell into a pothole on the severely-potholed Civil Line Road, which links Palarivattom and Kakkanad, on Saturday night.
The assistant engineer and contractor concerned are responsible for damage on any road or bridge during the defect-liability period since it is their duty to supervise and build durable roads. Contractors who build inferior quality roads will be blacklisted for a three-year period. The full amount due to them too will not be paid.
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This apart, all road surfacing works will be subject to social auditing. Details and progress of road repair and resurfacing works will be published on www.ernakulam.gov.in, the official website of the district administration and updated weekly. The Collector passed the directions in his additional capacity as the chairman of the District Disaster Management Authority.
Safety at stake
Referring to potholes at Jos Junction on MG Road, he said that they developed at the area within a month of the PWD doing repair works. Such repair works, often done in connection with VVIP visits, are executed in a shabby manner. This tendency must stop since the safety of road users is at stake.
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A few engineers cited rain and inadequate number of qualified engineers as an excuse for delay in repair works. Indiscriminate trenching to lay water/LPG pipelines and cables and improper temporary restoration are other issues, they said.
Engineers’ promise
The severely-damaged Civil Line Road will be repaired by October 31, while repair works on PWD roads will be completed by November end, engineers said. Mr. Safirulla said that PWD officials are empowered to cut down tree branches that protrude dangerously into the road. Trees that pose danger to the public can be cut down with the tahsildar’s permission. Deputy Collector P.D. Sheela Devi too was present.
In the meantime, Congress activists besieged Civil Line Road on Monday, protesting against PWD (roads wing) apathy in restoring the stretch.