Welcome to potholed roads

At a time when the city is all set to host ‘Emerging Kerala’ from September 12 to 14, the officials have turned a blind eye towards the basic infrastructure development of Kochi. The maintenance and re-tarring of roads at many parts of the city have not been taken up so far.

The stretch from Edappally to Pookkattupadi, which lies in the constituency of none other than Works Minister V K Ebrahim Kunju, has been in a pathetic state with full of potholes and gutters.

The maintenance and repair of the road have been pending for the past few months. Driving through this stretch is a nightmare for motorists, particularly the two and three wheelers.

The MG Road and Chittoor roads - the two roads connecting the South and North ends of the city - also need urgent repair. The bylanes and small roads near Edappally Railway Overbridge have a number of potholes.

The Foreshore Road in front of the Fire Arts Hall has been in a damaged state. However, the officials have begun an immediate re-tarring and repair as a face-saving measure ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Fine Arts Hall on September 13.

Waste management in the city has been posing a major threat. Though earlier there were plans to set up waste bins at different locations, no action has been taken in this regard.

“The city needs urgent attention in the infrastructure sector ahead of ‘Emerging Kerala’. There should have been proper homework. But so far no meeting of local bodies has been convened in this regard. If local bodies like the Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) and Corporation were properly consulted, we could have given an outline of the work needed to be done here,” said GCDA chairman N Venugopal.

The Corporation authorities said they had already started maintenance of major stretches in and around the city through where traffic would be re-routed during the investors’ meet.

“Maintenance of the roads is being carried out in association with the PWD. The work is expected to be completed in three days,” said Corporation Work Standing committee chairperson Soumini Jain.