Rain plays spoilsport again for City roads

By V.N.Harinath

HYDERABAD, AUG. 7. It is the same old story that gets repeated year after year after a good rain. The downpour washes away the newly black-topped roads in the Twin Cities and it is back to square one with the newly-used material going down the drain.

This year the road conditions have turned worse after private contractors left them in poor shape after road-cutting for laying cable which seems to be unending. Even as the MCH is planning to take up massive pothole-filling work using readymix cement concrete the rain god played spoilsport and lashed Hyderabad and Secunderabad during the last three or four days rendering the condition of the roads worse than ever before.

Now that the rains have stopped, the MCH staff seem to be having a breather, just for now. Well, if it rains again, they will have a tough time facing flak for the tardy way the contractors were allowed to get away in not keeping the promise of finishing the road-filling work after laying the cables.

Be that as it may, road-users are crying foul, fed up with the countless potholes they encounter daily. Barring cursing the civic staff and the contractors for leaving gaping holes on the roads they can't do much. This week's incessant rains have indeed rendered the roads risky for use.

There are many points at various places in the City, which, if the users don't watch out, could prove to be life-threatening. Besides, they are acting as effective traffic-stoppers, as in the case of the railway overbridge, Lalaguda.

City-watchers feel that it is high time the civic officials take up the promised road-filling work, using ready-mix concrete so that the monsoon may pass off without causing any further inconvenience to road-users.

When contacted, MCH officials told The Hindu on Tuesday that the pothole-filling and carpeting work would be taken up immediately, so as to avoid any hardship to the road-user. The work is to cost over Rs.30 crores.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Southern States
Previous : Painful end to 'Srinivas'
Next     : Attack on aged persons worries Kharge