The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Monday sought response from the Madurai Corporation in a public interest litigation petition that complained about poor quality of roads in the city.
A Division Bench of Justices M. Duraiswamy and K. Murali Shankar directed the Corporation to file a counter affidavit on a petition filed by advocate S. Suresh Kumar Isaac Paul of K. K. Nagar in Madurai. The petitioner said that whether the authorities followed the required standard to lay roads in the city was questionable. A checklist on certain parameters must be displayed in the public to maintain accountability regarding quality of roads laid.
Particulars on when a road was last relaid, why it was relaid and the tests conducted on the road should be displayed, he said. The petitioner said that during monsoon, the roads were completely damaged.
Due to the poor implementation of the projects, rainwater would not get drained into the drainage system, thereby damaging the roads. Soil and other waste would get collected on the roads and when the water dried up, the soil was left behind causing dust pollution.
New roads were being laid without following any procedure. They were laid on existing roads. The old roads were not scrapped. This resulted in increasing the height of the roads and building levels near these roads going down as a result.
In order to maintain transparency, details of road projects must be displayed. The details must include the project estimate, materials used and expected life span of the road. Contact numbers must be displayed to redress grievances of the public, he said.
