The Coimbatore Corporation has laid over 100km of road in the past three months. Several of these roads have already begun peeling off due to the shoddy tarring work. With elections coming up, the civic body is just laying roads in every stretch haphazardly and the work is sloppy and substandard, allege activists. TOI visited a few of these stretches that were re-laid and have been damaged within a month.
In the past three months since January, the civic body has laid 159 roads in various parts of the city. Of these, 54 roads were laid in the north zone, 31 in the central zone, 28 in the west zone, 24 in the east zone and 22 in south zone. Many roads laid in R S Puram, Gopalapuram, Avarampalayam, Gandhipuram, Ganapathy and other areas have begun peeling off.
A commuter on Gopalapuram Road said, "I travel on this road every day. This particular stretch was not that damaged. Yet, it was re-laid a few weeks ago. But already we find pot holes on the road." Another resident of Sukarwarpet said that roads in his area were not even compacted. "The road rollers can hardly enter this area. They cannot claim that the road rollers were run on the road. The road work was shoddy and definitely not as per norms. I am a retired person and I did not find any corporation official inspecting the area when the roads were being laid," said a resident.
A commuter said, "Most roads are laid overnight and in a few weeks' time we find potholes in them. Some roads that are good and do not have potholes are dug up immediately for laying cables."
Corporation officials when contacted said that the temperature of mixture while being laid should be appropriate. "Since the mixture is transported from another place, the temperature may reduce and that would result in the damage. Moreover, vehicular traffic is allowed on the road immediately after being laid. Though dust is sprayed on the road, sometimes roads take at least three to five days to be set. We cannot control the traffic," said a senior engineer. Sometimes, rain also causes the damage. After the Huzur Road in Gopalapuram Road was laid, it had rained. "Water must have percolated and caused the damage," said the official.
Activists pointed out that proper road laying techniques were not followed by the civic body and none of the engineers monitored the work. "While the measurement books of the civic body claimed that the roads were being dug up and a huge amount of money was being paid to the contractors, in reality none of the works are carried out. It is easy to prove it. Just two inches of gravel is poured on the road instead and that as well is not compacted as per norms," said V Ramamoorthy, RTI activist.
In the past three months since January, the civic body has laid 159 roads in various parts of the city. Of these, 54 roads were laid in the north zone, 31 in the central zone, 28 in the west zone, 24 in the east zone and 22 in south zone. Many roads laid in R S Puram, Gopalapuram, Avarampalayam, Gandhipuram, Ganapathy and other areas have begun peeling off.
A commuter on Gopalapuram Road said, "I travel on this road every day. This particular stretch was not that damaged. Yet, it was re-laid a few weeks ago. But already we find pot holes on the road." Another resident of Sukarwarpet said that roads in his area were not even compacted. "The road rollers can hardly enter this area. They cannot claim that the road rollers were run on the road. The road work was shoddy and definitely not as per norms. I am a retired person and I did not find any corporation official inspecting the area when the roads were being laid," said a resident.
A commuter said, "Most roads are laid overnight and in a few weeks' time we find potholes in them. Some roads that are good and do not have potholes are dug up immediately for laying cables."
Corporation officials when contacted said that the temperature of mixture while being laid should be appropriate. "Since the mixture is transported from another place, the temperature may reduce and that would result in the damage. Moreover, vehicular traffic is allowed on the road immediately after being laid. Though dust is sprayed on the road, sometimes roads take at least three to five days to be set. We cannot control the traffic," said a senior engineer. Sometimes, rain also causes the damage. After the Huzur Road in Gopalapuram Road was laid, it had rained. "Water must have percolated and caused the damage," said the official.
Activists pointed out that proper road laying techniques were not followed by the civic body and none of the engineers monitored the work. "While the measurement books of the civic body claimed that the roads were being dug up and a huge amount of money was being paid to the contractors, in reality none of the works are carried out. It is easy to prove it. Just two inches of gravel is poured on the road instead and that as well is not compacted as per norms," said V Ramamoorthy, RTI activist.