KOCHI: Despite being one of the most important connecting roads in the city, the Thammanam-Pullepady road is proving to be a nightmare for motorists. Owing to its uneven state, a ride along the stretch has been a bumpy affair for the past many months.
So, when the Kochi Corporation took up the levelling of the road as a major project, commuters heaved a sigh of relief. However, much to the dismay of the public, the work has come to a halt for the past 10 days.
Although the laying of gravel was undertaken in full swing in the last week of November, there has been an inadvertent delay in laying bitumin.
“A part of the road was barricaded for a couple of days when the gravel was being laid, a road roller was brought in to level the rocks. But there has been no progress since then. In a way, the situation is worse now. The gravel throws up a lot of dust and the stretch has become even bumpier. Also, there have been incidents of tyre punctures due to sharp-edged rocks,” says Dhanesh K S, an autorickshaw driver who plies regularly through the road.
“The delay is because a few electric poles on the road need to be shifted by KSEB. The corporation has forwarded the necessary instructions to the electricity board and I have spoken to the engineer in this regard. The work will be completed in a week to 10 day,” said P M Harris, chairman, Standing Committee for Works, Kochi Corporation.
“The corporation gave the board the first list of poles to be shifted last month. This work has already been carried out. We received a second list recently. This request is being processed and a cost estimate has been forwarded to the corporation. Once we get the approval for the payment from them, the poles will be relocated immediately,” said Anand S R, deputy chief engineer, electric circle, KSEB, Ernakulam.