Slamming the Kochi Corporation and the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) for the poor upkeep of city roads and the delay in completing road repair works, the Kerala High Court on Friday asked the superintending engineers of the Kochi Corporation to appear before it.
Officials from the five zonal offices of the Kochi Corporation would have to be present before the court on March 10, when it considers the case, ordered Justice Devan Ramachandran.
The court would interact directly with the officials to know the factors that were delaying road repair works, the judge said.
The court passed the order while considering a batch of petitions regarding badly damaged city roads.
The judge said the court felt ashamed by the sad state of affairs and the plight of people though the authorities who were responsible for the upkeep of roads didn’t appear so.
Despite the Advocate General assuring the court that road repair works could be completed before January 31, it had not happened.
The Kochi Corporation, which stated that the KWA had dug up several roads for water supply projects, said the paucity of funds had affected works. The KWA could not return the roads to the civic body on time after completing projects and repairing them, the court noted.
The navigation of vehicles through damaged roads was leading to increased pollution besides causing several diseases to general public, the court pointed out.
The court also noted that a few city roads, including the SRM Road, had become non-motorable long ago.
Meanwhile, the State government opposed the arguments of the Kochi Corporation on paucity of funds. The civic body gets assistance from the State government. Moreover, it could generate its own funds, the State submitted.
