Faced with angry protests from road users about the deplorable condition of arterial and side roads in the city and suburbs, and the inordinate delay in repairing them, the Public Works Department (Roads wing) has readied a list of roads that need urgent repair work.
The potholed one-km-long Park Avenue Road from Rajendra Maidan to the Government Guest House will be covered using concrete paver blocks. The work could be done during rainy weather, provided there was no continuous rainfall, said a senior official of the Department’s Ernakulam Division.
Most other roads will be repaired by filling potholes with 36-mm stone pieces and topping them with cold-mix bitumen when continuous rains subside. Resurfacing can be done only from October. The list of roads that need urgent repairs will be forwarded to the PWD Chief Engineer (Roads) on Friday. Minister for Public Works G. Sudhakaran had agreed to allot adequate funds during a meeting held earlier in the week, he added.
The other stretches awaiting urgent repair work include Banerjee Road, M.G. Road, High Court Junction-Goshree Junction corridor, and roads in Thripunithura, Maradu, West Kochi and neighbouring municipal areas.
Digging work done on Vennala-Palachuvadu-Kakkanad Road till the first week of June for laying LPG pipelines, and by KSEB on the Eroor-S.N. Junction stretch in May has caused considerable damage to the roads. “Often, we are forced to grant sanction to dig up roads even before the expiry of warranty of their resurfacing and just prior to monsoon,” said a PWD official.
Resurfacing of Civil Line Road that links the city with Kakkanad has been postponed, despite P.T. Thomas, MLA, offering ₹4 crore from his constituency-development fund. This is because the stretch is awaiting widening as part of the metro rail project’s Kakkanad extension.
Similarly, the resurfacing of Thoppumpady-Edakochi-Aroor corridor too was hanging fire since contractors had sought more than the estimated funds, said PWD officials.
