Public ire is mounting against the Public Works Department (PWD) and the Kochi Corporation since a number of roads and bridges the agencies own are in dilapidated condition. The inordinate delay in repairing them has in turn made potholes and undulations bigger, causing accidents and traffic snarls in the city.
While the agencies have been resorting to excuses such as high water table and trenching for potholes developing on roads, they are unable to cite any excuse for potholes developing on bridges like the 2-km-long Kundannoor-Thevara Bridge (also called UP Bridge) within two months of it being resurfaced. The resurfacing was done after a two-wheeler rider lost his life in a pothole-related accident.
The claim by a senior official of the PWD (NH wing) that potholes on the bridge were repaired a few days ago turned out to be false, as plenty of potholes could be seen on Saturday.
Ernakulam District Residents’ Associations’ Apex Council (EDRAAC) general secretary M.T. Varghese said the bridge had almost always remained undulated and ridden with potholes due to shoddy upkeep. The same agency was responsible for the state of affairs beneath the Kundannoor flyover, which was ridden with severe undulations and got flooded even in moderate downpour.
“Most PWD officials are content with the status quo and are unwilling to adopt technological and climate-resilient innovations. The easiest and most cost-effective way is to ready a mobile repair unit which can fill potholes using cold-mix bitumen, even during rainy weather. Its service can be availed across the city. This preventive maintenance will go a long way in preventing potholes from becoming bigger and causing accidents. Such patchwork does not need heavy machinery like road rollers,” said Mr. Varghese.
The Mattancherry BOT Bridge too is in bad condition since its tar-coating has given away over almost the entire bridge. The entry from the Palarivattom side to the Vyttila flyover that was commissioned in January too has sunk a few inches, with the result that motorists encounter a jerk as they enter the structure. Bridges in the suburbs too are in bad shape.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Ernakulam Vikasana Samithi too have demanded speedy measures to repair potholed roads and bridges and to ensure that manhole slabs are at the same height of roads, since they were causing accidents. “An elderly woman who was commuting by autorickshaw died earlier this year after the vehicle overturned when it encountered a sewage manhole which was at a lower level than the rest of T.D. Road,” said Gopinatha Kamath, general secretary of T.D. Road Residents’ Welfare Association.
