They are at it again.
The Kerala Water Authority has sunk spade on the eastern side of SA Road near Vyttila for pipe-laying work and fenced off one lane of the road despite impending monsoon and worsening traffic snarls in parts of the city.
And caught between the metro barricades on the western end and the KWA-sponsored trenches in the eastern side are the commuters.
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In between, huge potholes and undulations dot Kadavanthra Junction since the agency did not restore the dug-up road.
“The KWA began work at the eleventh hour despite numerous reminders to complete the work early this year, as originally scheduled. We paid them the cost of laying pipes and restoring roads months ago,” said Soumini Jain, the Works Standing Committee chairperson of the Kochi Corporation, which owns the road.
The KWA’s delay in completing digging and further delay in restoring roads had led to accidents and major traffic obstructions during last monsoon.
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A woman pillion rider lost her life after her bike ran into an shoddily covered ditch dug by KWA on MG Road at Atlantis Junction. Again, traffic had to be banned through Tripunithura SN Junction-Vaikom Road during 2013 monsoon due to the excessive delay in completing pipe-laying.
Ms. Jain said the agency leaves open many parts of ditches even after pipe-laying works are over. “They cite excuses like the need to ‘test joints. Not knowing that KWA officials are responsible for the situation, members of the public often take out their ire on corporation councillors.” And she warned that the situation on S.A. Road would get worse once educational institutions reopen. Officials of DMRC too blamed KWA for its ‘lethargic attitude’ to pipe-laying on the three-km-long road, for which works began in December. “KWA must keep up with the times and shed its antiquated work culture,” said one of them.
KWA’s executive engineer R. Jayachandran said pipelaying work would be over by May 31.