Following public outrage over the dilapidated condition of roads that were dug up for laying drinking water pipes, Mayor Thottathil Raveendran has called a meeting of the executive engineers of the Public Works Department (PWD) and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to sort out the issue.
Residents have been complaining that the roads have not been restored even after the pipes were laid under the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)-aided drinking water project.
Three years ago, the project was commissioned in Kozhikode to provide safe and stable piped water to more than 12 lakh people in the city and over a dozen panchayats. However, the work for laying pipes in many residential areas continued till April.
Mr. Raveendran said the engineers of both departments would be summoned to sort out the issue at the earliest. During the corporation council meeting on Monday, several councillors had pointed out that accidents had been occurring in many residential areas.
An emergency meeting of the departments should be called in view of the approaching monsoon, P. Kishenchand of the Loktantrik Janata Dal said, adding that his division at Nadakkavu faced such a problem.
K.M. Rafeeq, a member of the standing committee on public works, said the civic body would have to allot funds to repair the roads maintained by it. The Kerala Water Authority (KWA) had said that the repair of the roads would be taken up at a later stage. But its officials did not positively respond to the issue, he said.
Absence of street lights
Many residents have also complained about the absence of street lights on the damaged roads. Accidents had increased during the night, said a resident.
Nambidi Narayanan, the councillor representing Meenchanda division, said the condition of the Mini Bypass and Kozhikode Bypass was pathetic. The drains of were filled with sand and silt. Unless the drains were desilted, the problem would get worse during the monsoon, he said.