Commuters in the city will have to wait for one more month for PVS Circle to be thrown open for traffic. Till then, they have to bear with traffic diversion via Jail Road and Besant College Road.
This came to light at a meeting to review the progress achieved in the implementation of development projects by the Mangalore City Corporation convened by Deputy Commissioner Subodh Yadav.
Mr. Yadav was not happy with the corporation officials over the progress of work on the road at the circle. Taking the engineering section of the civic body to task, Mr. Yadav said the work was progressing at a snail's pace.
“Traffic on this road cannot be diverted for long. You are carrying out the work leisurely,” Mr. Yadav said.
Priority
The Deputy Commissioner directed the officials to complete the work on priority. “Why do you give scope for people to complain?'' he asked.
Mr. Yadav said that he had arranged for diversion of traffic immediately after the corporation requested for it. But the civic body was not showing any interest in completing the work at the earliest, he said.
The Deputy Commissioner sought to know the reason for not filling the potholes on Jail Road before diverting traffic. “Have you seen the road's condition now?'' he asked an engineer.
Even the condition of Besant College Road was bad. Alternative roads should be repaired and kept ready for traffic diversion. There was lack of planning on the part of the engineering section, he said.
An engineer informed the meeting that there was a protest by a private party against building a concrete lane at the circle. The party threatened to file a police complaint if the civic body went ahead with the work.
It took a week to convince the party to cooperate with the civic body in implementing the work. In addition, excavation of the old concrete road at the circle took time, the engineer said.
Mr. Yadav, who was not convinced by this, said: “Why didn't you sort out the issue with the private party before approaching me to divert traffic?'' The engineer said that it would take one more month to complete the work on the road at the circle. Corporation Commissioner K.N. Vijayaprakash was among those present.
