VIJAYAWADA: With the city witnessing moderate rainfall for the past few days, roads in various localities, especially in One Town have taken a severe beating and have become a nightmare for commuters. Particularly, the stretch from KBN College to Chitti Nagar Junction is the worst-hit, as dangerously deep potholes are causing severe inconvenience for pedestrians and commuters who have to bear the physical as well as financial loss for getting their vehicles damaged.
Ch Bhanu Pratap, a shopkeeper in the area said, “The 700-metre stretch from KBN College to Chitti Nagar Junction has become accident-prone. Since most of the potholes are in the middle of the road, it becomes difficult for commuters to drive”. A major portion of the stretch has been occupied by the hawkers and shops for their businesses. With limited width, the pedestrians, especially senior citizens, cannot walk on this road as vehicles passing by splash water on them, he added. N Balaji, a regular commuter on the stretch opined that the civic body’s idea of repairing roads just before the monsoon was not feasible. Every year, the municipal corporation has been spending crores on roads without focussing on quality. If the roads are laid as per norms, they should be able to withstand the monsoon, he pointed out.
VMC chief engineer M Prabhakar told TNIE that the civic body has carried out patch works on various road stretches in three administrative circles of the city during the summer months at an estimated cost of Rs 70 lakh. Due to road cuts and construction of storm water drains, some stretches remained in bad shape. A detailed survey will be conducted by executive engineers in the three administrative circles of the city to locate the damaged roads and carry out repair works soon after the monsoon recedes, he informed.