Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore   

Residents fill potholes on Vilankurichi Road

Special Correspondent

People contribute funds for seven lorry loads of gravel

SELF-HELP IS BEST HELP: Potholes on Vilankurichi Road in the city being filled on Monday as part of efforts by residents to make the stretch motorable. - PHOTO: S. SIVA SARAVANAN

COIMBATORE: After a painful wait for close to two years, residents of some layouts along Vilankurichi Road plunged into direct action on Monday to fill the potholes on the road with gravel and make it less threatening to life and limbs.

(The 3.5-km road connects Avanashi Road with the Vilankurichi Panchayat that is located on the city's border. The residents have been demanding repairs to the badly damaged stretch between the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board office and the panchayat.)

Layouts

N.R. Ravishankar, a resident of Ambal Nagar in the panchayat, said

people belonging to the affected layouts contributed funds for seven lorry loads of gravel. "It has cost us Rs.1, 200 for each load of two-and-a-half units of gravel. We have also engaged three workers for three days to fill up only potholes. And we have to pay them Rs.500 a day for them."

Asked why the residents had gone to the extent of repairing a road with their money, K. Ganesan of the same colony said: "We have no other option to save our lives. We waited for too long for repair works. But, we decided to fill the potholes ourselves as waiting any further may cause more harm to us."

Vilankurichi Panchayat's Ward 2 councillor K. Nageshwari said: "As residents, we are not interfering in the responsibility of the Coimbatore Corporation. We are only taking a precautionary measure by filling the potholes with gravel. This step has been taken by the residents to prevent injuries while driving on this road."

The residents said the North Zone Chairman and Communist Party of India (Marxist) councillor from Ward 3 of the Corporation C. Padmanabhan visited the spot and asked them why the gravel filling had to be done when the civic body itself wanted to re-lay the stretch.

"We told him that the Corporation could re-lay the road later and that the residents were in no mood right now to wait for the works to take off," Mr. Ravishankar said. "We said this to the Corporation officials also who came to the spot."

Worst-affected

"Women and school children who have to board buses have been the worst-affected. And, those riding scooters, motorcycles and mopeds have hurt their spine," Ms. Nageshwari said. "We took up patchwork to reduce at least the fatal accidents."

She said the residents even planned to form associations and take up minor repairs to roads and removal of garbage under guidance from the Residents' Awareness Association of Coimbatore.

By evening, four loads of gravel had been used to fill the potholes.

Another three loads would be used on Tuesday, Mr. Ravishankar said.

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