Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (SP)
Udupi, Jun 22: The roads in the city had been given a new look during the Paryaya festival of Admar Math during January earlier this year. The hollowness of the road which looked neat with perfect exterior, has been exposed by the first rainfall of the season. The potholes which have opened up all along the roads have given rise to tension in the minds of two-wheeler riders. The people have been angry at the municipality and people's representatives because of the bad state of the roads.
At the court road at Kinnimulky, the road has suffered depression for about a foot. A ten-metre long crack has also appeared on the road. It has started to crumble at two spots in this fashion. The Gundibail-Ambagilu road also has experienced similar problem for half a foot.
During the Paryaya festival, the roads in the city had been given a new look. Tar was used to fill the potholes. The holes in the roads had been filled at an expenditure of R 1.57 crore in 35 wards of the city and the main roads like Kinnimulky court road, Diana Circle etc were strengthened with bitumen. But the wastefulness of the repairs are being exposed with the arrival of rainy season.
At the time the roads were readied for Paryaya, underground drainage pipelines were laid under the main roads here. Those who had undertaken this contract were late in completing their work, the municipal officials say. Technically speaking, these roads should have been tarred only after waiting for two months after the drainage pipe laying work was completed. This would have helped the roads to stabilise as the earth underneath would have got enough time to settle down. But because of pressure of completing the road for the Paryaya festival, the roads were metalled without giving the customary gap of two months, which has resulted in the current problem, sources in the municipality claim.
Mohanraj, assistant executive engineer of the municipality here, says that temporary measures have been undertaken to make sure that the crumbled portions of the roads do not pose danger. He said that barricades have been set up and the collapsed roads would be repaired by using the security deposit of the contractors. He added that the contractors who handled drainage and road works have been asked to repair the roads at the earliest.