Pvt firm carrying out water project cleans slippery roads

Coimbatore: As rain continues to lash the city, Suez India Private Limited that has been digging up roads to implement the 24/7 drinking water project, has started to clean sludge off the roads, much to the relief of motorists.
After several motorists skidded on the slippery roads, the workers of the firm stopped laying the pipes and started to clean TV Samy Road in RS Puram on Wednesday.
The company had started to lay drinking water pipelines for 41km in RS Puram six months ago and had completed the work on 30km. “After laying the pipelines, the workers would temporarily close the pits with soil. As per the agreement, the portion would be tarred after completing the work in the entire area. But due to continuous downpour, mud has turned into sludge, which had spread across the stretch due to vehicle movement. The whole area had become slippery,” said a source privy to the project.
Seeing the plight of vehicle users, particularly those on two-wheelers, the firm decided to clean the stretch. “After sweeping the sludge off the road manually, wet-mix cement was poured over the portion to be restored. After it was set, jet sprays were used to remove the sludge off the pores,” the source explained. The company has deployed 60 workers for the cleaning activity.
The work was completed on Ponnurangam Road, Ramachandra Road and Arogyasamy Road and it would be carried out on DB Road and Samantham Road later.
The road will be repaired after the rain subsides, corporation officials said.
Despite cleaning, sludge is still present on the roads, said R Vasanthan, a commuter. “It is still a bit slippery but is due to continuous movement of vehicles. But, something is better than nothing.”