Coimbatore, Dec. 19
Our city needs better roads first before turning smart as the existing conditions of roads within the limits of Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation leave a lot to be desired, commented social activists.
Echoing their views, Krishna, a resident of Sanganoor cited the recent death of 27-year-old M. Balasundhar, a resident of Nallampalayam in an accident due to a pothole on the Sanganoor-Ganapathy stretch on December 15 and stressed that the potholes should not be allowed to become death traps for motorists.
M. Balasundhar is said to have died after being hit by a truck while dodging a pothole on the Sanganoor-Ganapathy stretch.
A citizen's video making fun of the bad roads in Kallimadai to draw the attention of the authorities!
While the City Municipal Corporation took steps to fill the potholes on the Sanganoor-Ganapathy stretch following the death of the young man, it was not enough and Corporation authorities should do the same with all the potholes in the city within a reasonable time frame, plead the activists.
There are more than five hundred potholes in the city, but the Corporation officials are turning a blind eye to them as they don't have the guts to rein in erring contractors, commented, Mr. Manoj, a social activist.
Road Safety Meeting, which is to be held once in every three months under the chairmanship of District Collector with the participation of all the stakeholders including the officials from Corporation, city police and the public, have now become a thing of the past. “No such meetings have taken place in recent times,” alleged Mr. Manoj.
As Road Safety Meeting offers a platform for a healthy and productive interaction between officials and public besides enabling people to articulate their grievances relating to the condition of roads in their localities, it should take place without fail, he stressed.
Mr. Daniel, an RTI activist, has attributed the bad conditions of the roads in the city to the callousness of the officials to ensure proper monitoring and quality checking when the roads were being laid by the contractors.
"Officials cannot evade their responsibilities when it comes to ensure that the roads are in good shape and properly maintained at all the time ,” he contended.
“Our RTI queries have revealed that most of the contracts have been awarded to one or two contractors and they are seldom taken to task for their failure to comply with the tender norms,” commented, SP Thiyagarajan, another RTI activist.
More than five roads in the city such as Nanjundapuram Road, Sowripalayam Road, Big Bazaar Street, Good Shed Road and Varadharajapuram Road have caved in during the last two years, he alleged.
Setting up of a quality control committee with the participation of city residents by the City Municipal Corporation to oversee the road laying works was the need of the hour, suggested activists.
When contacted, Corporation officials, on condition of anonymity, said a proposal seeking Rs 120 crores to repair city roads had been sent to the State Government.