Daijiworld Media Network - Dharwad (SP)
Dharwad, Aug 28: The marriage of union minister Pralhad Joshi's daughter, is being held on September 2 in a private hotel in Hubballi. Naturally bigwigs and dignitaries will grace the occasion. Therefore, the officials of Hubli-Dharwad city corporation have been filling the holes in the roads.
As of now, most of the roads here give people a roller coaster ride besides making clouds of dust rise from the road. The officials had not undertaken road repairs, as they were saying that the Smart City project would be implemented soon. The residents of the city had requested the people's representatives and organized protests demanding road repairs, but the corporation officials had overlooked them.
The officials who were unmoved when the people protested are now asphalting the roads because highly placed dignitaries will be gracing the said marriage. The roads on which the VVIPs will move are being repaired one by one. The people are surprised at the way in which the repairs are being undertaken. They point out that the electoral code of conduct is in force and want to know whether the code does not come in the way of road repairs.
The officials are repairing only a few select roads for the marriage. Repairs of Gokul road, road leading to the said private hotel, Keshwapur colony road and the road leading to Joshi's residence are being repaired on a war footing. In some roads, after repairs, barricades have been set up to block movement of other vehicles.
The officials have not undertaken repairs of dusty roads having the highest number of potholes where the people find it hard to move. The people wonder whether the officials will fill all the holes if national leaders come to the city. The people are angry that the officials who neglected when the people demanded the repairs are now undertaking repairs of a few roads on their own. They question the partisan attitude of the corporation officials in serving only a few and leaving the others high and dry.
Auto Drivers Association president Shekharayya Mathapathi, has demanded for the bituminization of all the bad roads instead of a chosen few.