Andhra Pradesh

It’s a bumpy ride for motorists

— Photo: K.R. Deepak

ON THE EDGE: An improperly covered deep pit, which was dug up as part of the underground drainage project, poses grave danger to motorists and pedestrians at Seethammadhara in Visakhapatnam.

Visakhapatnam: Driving on the city roads has become a nightmare for motorists and even pedestrians during nights.

Many of the main roads and peripheral roads are being dug up with machines overnight to lay pipes for the Under Ground Drainage (UGD) project but the contractors are not showing the same zeal in covering the roads properly on completion of the work.

A major irritant to motorists is that the roads are being dug up in the centre and huge heaps of mud is being piled up on either side reducing the roads at many places into mere pathways.

The presence of pebbles and stones along the dug up roads is compounding the problem.

Motorists at Seethammadhara North Extension had a tough time driving down the roads during the past few weeks as they have been literally reduced to lanes. The colony is located on a flattened hill and motorists have to go up steep inclines and negotiate sharp curves to reach their homes.

The improperly covered roads are doubling the risk. Though many of the dug up roads in this area have been covered, the soil has sunk at some places.

Work on the third phase of the UGD project, taken up at a cost of Rs.247 crores, commenced seven months ago. The project, scheduled for completion in two years, will cover areas between Seethammadhara and Gopalapatnam and beyond. “Once the manholes are constructed and the pipes are laid and connected to it, they would have to be watered for a minimum of one week,” said an engineering official. There are complaints that the contractor doesn’t bother to cover the holes even after several weeks in some areas. Even after the pits are covered the roads cannot be re-laid immediately. They have to be left like that for at least one monsoon. This is because the pits filled with loose soil sink and they have to be filled two or three times in layers before BT roads can be re-laid.

The delay in covering up of the dug up roads in slums and in areas where the roads are narrow is causing untold hardships to the residents. Sometime ago the residents of a slum near Madhavadhara VUDA Colony had difficulty in reaching their home on foot. Children had to walk on the mounds of soil that lay piled up for several weeks on the narrow road and some of them reportedly fell into the pits and injured themselves.

The dug up roads can turn out to be death traps with rains round the corner. A few spells of rain can fill up the pits making it difficult for motorists and pedestrians to judge the status of the road and could even endanger their lives. A few years ago a trader’s son fell into a pit dug up on the Thatichetlapalem Main Road to lay the Raiwada water pipeline. The pit was filled with rainwater and the youth fell into it along with his moped and died.

The houses are well below the road-level at some place and the residents are raising doubts about the efficacy of the UGD system. They feel that the level should be properly checked before the outlets from individual homes are led into the main UGD pipeline. Some residents are raising doubts about the quality of the pipes and the work being done.

© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu