KOCHI: The thought of travelling on city roads sends a chill down the spine. Travelling through long stretches pockmarked with potholes and loose gravel scattered around presents a scenario worse than the deadly races showcased in many Hollywood movies. These roads are a motorist’s nightmare.
For instance, motorists taking the Pandit Karuppan Road have been facing the tribulation for the past eight months with the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) digging up both sides of the road for laying pipes under the AMRUT project.
Though a normal delay while laying pipelines is understandable, the eight-month-long delay was caused allegedly because of a blunder made by T S Sudheer, KWA Chief Engineer (Central region), and his team members while taking the estimate of pipe connections which need to be replaced with new ones.
As per the KWA estimate, only 180 connections had to be replaced with new pipes whereas the number of actual connections was around 308. “In the last week of May, we came to know that the KWA had only estimated 180 connections instead of 308. Since the KWA had not included the remaining connections under the AMRUT project, the agency had to invite another tender for the same. This again delayed the restoration work by another four months. Had the KWA made a proper estimate of connections, the road work could have been completed before the onset of monsoon,” said Elizabeth, Thevara councillor.
Though the KWA alone carried out the trenching work on either side of the 2.2-km-long road, the Mayor and corporation officials have equal responsibility for the timely completion of the work. Besides playing a political game in the council, the corporation has done nothing for the benefit of the public, said K J Peter, Konthuruthy councillor. “The KWA dug up the road for laying pipes in January this year. It took nearly eight months for the KWA to hand over the road to the corporation. But during this period, neither the Mayor nor the other authorities concerned take any interest in monitoring the work. If monitoring was done at every stage of the work, the commuters would not have to face the ordeal for such a long period,” said Peter.
When approached, a KWA official, however, said the delay was caused not only because of the mistakes in estimating the connection work but also due to the delay in getting permission from the agencies like the PWD, police, GCDA and corporation.
“We admit that there was an issue in estimating the actual number of connections which required replacement. But there were other factors which also played a major role in delaying the pipe-laying work. Sometimes, we had to wait for a year to get the sanction for laying the pipes. At Pandit Karuppan Road, we were only allowed to work from 10 pm to 5 am due to the traffic issues. If we could carry out the work in the daytime, it could have been completed in a short period,” said the official, requesting anonymity.
Erring officials will be punished: Collector
Kochi: District Collector S Suhas has given directives to the officials concerned to repair dilapidated roads in the district with immediate effect. “If the roads remain riddled with potholes after two weeks, stringent action will be taken against errant officials. I have given instructions for the same to the police,” said the Collector. He was speaking at the review meeting of district roads here on Wednesday. The district administration has listed 45 roads in and around Kochi city for immediate renovation. Directives have been issued to the officials of Public Works Department, Greater Cochin Development Authority, National Highways Authority of India, Kochi Corporation, Kochi Metro, Roads and Bridges Development Corporation of Kerala and Kochi Refineries.
