City corporation seeks Rs 120cr to repair roads

Coimbatore: The city corporation has sent a proposal to the State government seeking Rs 120 crore for repairing roads. Officials with the engineering wing of the Coimbatore corporation said they have sent a proposal after inspecting all the major roads in the city.

"The State government had asked all civic bodies to send estimate and proposal for repairing roads damaged in rain. We conducted an assessment and sent the proposal 15 days ago. It has not been sanctioned yet," a corporation official said.

Meanwhile, a youngster, who has recorded nearly 500 potholes on the city roads, photographed them along with his team and petitioned the collector and the deputy commissioner of police seeking appropriate orders. Ashok Srinithi, a member of the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), said that several weeks ago, he submitted the petition to the corporation commissioner, K Vijayakarthikeyan. "We did the job that the officials should have done. We inspected all the roads and photographed the potholes. We submitted a detailed petition that included details and photographs. But, no action was taken. In some locations, debris were dumped in the potholes. However, it did not help as the roads continue to be uneven. The debris pose a huge risk to motorists," Ashok said. He will be meeting the deputy commissioner as he wants authorities to know about the bad road condition, which he feels is the cause for the increasing number of road accidents.

"The corporation has not taken any action on this issue. So, I wanted other senior officials to be aware of the issue," he explained.

Corporation and highways department officials said they had not taken action as the rain had not stopped. "Since the weather is better now, we have started work on some junctions. Apart from quick-fix concrete, patchwork has been done on damaged roads. Meanwhile, we have also sought funds from the State government," a corporation engineer said.

Highways department has also started laying tar to patch up potholes on Mettupalayam Road.