Coimbatore: Citing the recent court order directing the concerned officials in all districts to ensure damaged roads are re-laid after proper milling, the Consumer Awareness and Protection Association (CAPA) from the city have alleged that roads here are relaid without milling the existing tarmac.
Coimbatore: Citing the recent court order directing the concerned officials in all districts to ensure damaged roads are re-laid after proper milling, the Consumer Awareness and Protection Association (CAPA) from the city have alleged that roads here are relaid without milling the existing tarmac.
Hearing a writ petition in February 2020 alleging of re-laying sub-standard roads by not removing the existing tarmac, the Madras High Court sought explanation from the Municipal Administration, Rural Development Secretaries and the State Highways Secretary. The bench of judges also held the corporation officials responsible for not properly monitoring the work done by the contractors.
Reitrating the HC order, the Consumer Awareness and Protection Association (CAPA) President N.R.Ravi Shankar from Coimbatore accused that "At present, the work of re-laying roads is in progress in and around Cheran Maan Nagar which belongs to Ward No:32 of the Corporation limits. Allegations are rife that the roads are relaid without milling the existing tar."
"Despite the Madras HC directing the concerned officials to take appropriate action against the erring contractor for failing to ensure proper milling before relaying the road, roads of sub-standard quality are being laid at Ward No:32. To reduce costs, the contractors often engage in such indiscriminate ways and cause much inconvenience to the residents and motorists. If roads are not milled before re-laying, the height of the roads will increase and thereby cause inundation of rain water", informed President of CAPA.
"Due to the callousness and greediness of the contractors and the Corporation officials failing to monitor their work, the residents are forced to spend Rs.15,000 to Rs.20,000 to increase their floor level of their houses to avoid water stagnation", he said.
Highlighting the plight of the residents and the poor quality of relaid roads, the Secretary of Sri Vignesh Nagar Residents Welfare Association of Vilankurichi has sent an e-mail to CAPA with a photo evidence proving that the roads were not milled before re-laying the existing tar, he told.
He lamented that the main problem is with the officials who do not supervise effectively and take action against the contractors for various reasons best known to them, but eventually, the sufferer is the common man.
"We have raised our complaint to the Corporation Commissioner and also urged him to ensure that milling of the existing tar should be done before the road is re-laid across all 100 wards. A photo copy of the roads being re-laid without milling at Ward No:32 and Court order has been annexed along with the petition sent to the CCMC Commissioner", he told.
Court order reg re-laying of roads
The Division Bench of the Madras High Court which held the following in its orders -- indiscriminate repair and re-laying of roads without scrapping the existing roads has led to considerable increase in the height of roads, which, in turn, causes accumulation of water in nearby houses, with plinth level lower than the surface of the road. The order also reitrates that the house owners cannot be expected to raise the height of the plinth of their houses every time roads, are relaid.
The Court had also suggested to the learned Additional Advocate General to advertise in newspapers, as well as through visual media that milling or reclaiming of roads by the contractors is necessary whenever the roads are relaid. And, also create awareness amid the residents that whenever roads are re-laid, milling should be done.
In case of failure on the part of the contractors, the public should be provided with contact numbers of telephone, mobile and WhatsApp of the authorities through which complaints can be registered, so that the issue can be sorted out at the initial stage itself.
Further, there should be an enquiry conducted by the officials and thereafter, if it is found that the contractors have not carried out milling, they should be blacklisted and compensation has to be claimed from the contractors.
Also, there should be a condition in the tender document that milling of road is a must and failure of milling the roads will lead to blacklisting and levying of penalty or compensation and IRC rules should be followed in letter and spirit while laying the roads.