The monsoon, which has brought cheer to farmers in Kurnool district, has thrown life out of gear in Kurnool city with most of the kutcha roads turning into slush pits.
The city has around 60 km of kutcha roads, according to the Kurnool Municipal Corporation (KMC). These roads are mostly in underdeveloped areas with a low number of houses and are generally located on the outskirts of the city.
The rains have left these roads in a bad shape, with locals unable to commute on them. CPI(M) district secretary K. Prabhakar Reddy said that the interior kutcha roads in the city have become impossible to navigate. "These roads are scattered all over the city. Some are near Nandyal checkpost, while some are on Dhone Road, some in weaker section colony, etc," Mr. Prabhakar Reddy said.
Talking about BT roads, the district secretary alleged negligence on the part of authorities and said that some roads in Venkataramana Colony are in a dire situation, with water constantly stagnating on the roads turning them into breeding grounds for mosquitoes.
Executive Engineer of the KMC Engineering Department, J. Ramana Murthy, said that some of the roads in the city were laid by the Roads and Buildings department, while some were laid by KMC. "All the major main roads are laid by the R&B Department, while KMC takes care of the interior roads," he said.
Responding to a query about repairing the roads, he said that no repairs are currently being done. About the kutcha roads, Mr. Murthy said that the construction of CC roads on top of the kutcha roads is currently not feasible as there are not many houses along these kutcha roads. "Once the houses start coming up, then we can lay the roads," he said.
Lack of communication
However, Mr. Prabhakar Reddy alleges that there is a lack of communication between the stakeholders: KMC and R&B departments. He suggested that if communication is improved between the departments, the damaged roads could be identified quickly and repaired in a timely manner.
