KOCHI: Observing that there should be a change in the attitude of engineers, who are in charge of public roads across the state, the Kerala High Court on Friday observed that the government needs to make PWD engineers concerned accountable for the bad state of roads and accidents that take place on potholed roads.
The court advised engineers that the higher they go, the more they should be on the field.
There is no need to wait for the report of an overseer to take steps to maintain the bad roads, Justice Devan Ramachandran observed while considering the petitions seeking to maintain roads came up for hearing.
The court orally observed that PWD engineers should be held responsible for the bad condition of the roads and they should be made to pay for their lapses if any accident takes place due to bad condition of roads.
The judge said that the engineers at the top level should be on the field and should keep a tab on the condition of roads regularly. They should ensure that whenever potholes develop, they should be filled on time. Had the respective engineers been made accountable, the deaths of two young persons due to road accidents in the state could have been averted.
The engineers' job was not to sit at the office and clear bills of the contractors. The government should issue an order making them responsible for the bad condition of the road. There is no need for the citizen to suffer due to negligence of officials concerned. "People are paying tax. If somebody dies, the government pays Rs 10 lakh. A fraction of that amount is enough to repair the potholed road," said the court. The court observed that the right to good and safe roads is the fundamental right of every citizen.
The pedestrian equally has the right to have a walkway along the road. Most of the roads do not have footpath for pedestrians. The pedestrian is being forced to walk on the road because of the absence of footpath. The court also pointed out that there is no footpath from Kaloor junction to Lissie metro station.
The Kochi Corporation informed that the delay in sanctioning fund by the government is delaying repair of roads.The court asked the government pleader to address these issues and inform the court about the complaints on lack of funds at the disposal of local bodies to repair damaged and potholed roads under them.
What happened to night women walk project?
The High Court asked what happened to the much-hyped ‘Night Women Walk’ project? The court said that the government organised a night walk for women to send out a message that the women could walk fearlessly on the streets at night.
The judge wondered how many women walked at night on the roads after the event. No one could walk on these roads because there was no lighting at all. There is hardly any lighting along some of the highways. No women would dare to walk on the roads during night. There is no lighting in most of the areas in Kochi city.