Strewn with up to one foot deep ditches and replete with wide pits and pot holes, travelling on the Chittoor Road has become a nightmare for Kochiites.
Motorists have to negotiate the badly-mauled stretches half-filled with gravel jutting out of road surface.
People cannot escape the back-breaking ride thanks to the critical condition of the road. The pot-holed road continues to take its toll on the riders.
The scene near Eyattil junction on Tuesday afternoon bears testimony to the pitiable condition of the road. Private vehicles and buses were moving at snail's pace as deep pits and potholes welcome them at every yard. Autorickshaw drivers at the junction recalled that people keep off the road and its bylanes, as travelling through the route is posing a danger to their lives.
“The situation is worse right from Rajaji Road to the junction near the South Railway station. We often turn down requests by passengers who want to reach places nearby these spots. A good portion of our earnings is spent on repair work of the autorickshaws,” one of the autorickshaw drivers said.
Pointing out that many drivers now face severe health problems like disc displacement and spinal injuries following the bumpy ride, a driver of a KSRTC bus plying on the Vyttila-Menaka-Vyttila route said that travelling time has gone up considerably in view of the poor condition of the road.
“The journey gets delayed by at least 20 to 30 minutes especially during the rainy season while negotiating the potholed roads,” he said.
A.K. Sabhapathy of Krishna Hospital located adjacent to the road said that the condition of the road on the northern side of Mullassery Canal road and near Shenoy's junction was miserable. “Even though a few potholes at Eyattil junction were filled, the areas near to the S. R. V. Higher Secondary School and the junction near the South Railway station remain in a bad condition,” he said.
Local residents blamed the Kochi Corporation for not carrying out proper maintenance work.
A resident alleged that there is an unholy nexus between the officials and contractors.“They repair roads just before the onset of monsoon. When the roads get damaged, they blame the rains for the damage. Road repair work is one area where people will not speak up against the corruption involved, as we all want to travel through safe roads,” he said.
