The recently formed Medical College-Thondayad Road Protection Committee will hold a symbolic hartal from Thondayad to Medical College in Kozhikode on July 23 in protest against the neglect towards the road.
Convener of the committee Puthusseri Vishwanathan told the media here on Saturday that the hartal will be held from 9 a.m. to 12 noon and that there will be no forced restriction on vehicles plying on the road. “We wouldn’t need to force anyone. The residents, traders and motorists have voluntarily agreed to join the protest,” he said.
The committee was formed under the aegis of the Residents Apex Council of Kozhikode at a recent meeting of the representatives of various residents’ associations in the region, autorickshaw, taxi and ambulance workers.
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K.P. Abdul Latheef, chairman of the committee, alleged that the authorities were blaming the rain unnecessarily when they had enough time to repair the road between June 16 and July 8 when there was hardly any rain.
The road, which is a major lifeline of the city, caters to a large section of the people visiting the medical college hospital and a host of educational institutions on the way. Due to the uneven condition of the road caused by the KWA’s multiple diggings, the road is unfit for motoring at present.
While the different departments are arguing among themselves and blaming the rain, lives are being lost on the road on a daily basis, Mr.Latheef said.
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“People returning from treatment at the Medical College will have to go back before they reach Thondayad because of the condition of the road. The situation is worse when patients who need to be transported delicately are taken along the road, which is full of humps and potholes,” Mr.Vishwanathan said.
“There is a provision to repair a road immediately when VIPs visit, whatever be the climatic condition. The facility could be used for this road,” he added. Representatives of residents’ associations and motor vehicle workers took part in the press conference.