Kerala - Kochi   

Potholes continue to take lives

— Photo: H. Vibhu

Death trap: The Vytilla bridge on the Palarivattom-Vytilla stretch of the National Highway 47 bypass.

KOCHI: Three two-wheeler riders lost their lives in the past few days after their vehicles fell into potholes on roads in Ernakulam district.

The deadline set by the State government to repair roads expired on October 15. While one of the victims was thrown off his vehicle in front of the Naval Base over a week ago, a youth lost his life at Kurupumpady, near Perumbavoor. In the latest instance, a young motorbike rider was thrown off his vehicle on the Vytilla overbridge, after he was caught unawares by a huge pothole. He was run over by a Kerala State Road Transport Corporation bus.

The Public Works Department’s roads and bridges wing is to blame for the first two deaths and the National Highway wing for the death at Vytilla. The department has not filled the pothole on the overbridge a week since the accident.

These incidents come after over two dozen people had been killed in the State in accidents caused by badly maintained roads during the recently concluded southwest monsoon. In Mavelikara, a 12-year-old girl was run over by a bus, after the two-wheeler she was riding pillion on fell into a pothole, throwing her off the vehicle. The agencies do not carry out timely repairs, despite the fact that junctions and vulnerable portions on most stretches develop potholes every year. Fed up with the wholly unprecedented degradation of roads this year, the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has demanded that the agencies make a detailed study of their condition, identify vulnerable stretches and prepare a comprehensive plan to carry out thorough periodic maintenance. “There has to be a permanent system for ensuring that roads are safe to travel,” says R. Mohandas, president of the chamber.

The department, the Corporation and the National Highways Authority of India do not allegedly ensure that roads are slanted enough for rainwater to drain away from the tarred portion. Water-logging has become common even on the highway, because of insufficient slant and blocked drains. This is apart from the inferior quality of the road work.

Metros such as New Delhi have opted to re-lay junctions (which wear off easily) and vulnerable portions using mastic asphalt. This method has not come to cities in Kerala. The bitumen used in mastic asphalt has more binding power.

With the rain taking a breather during the past few days, the government agencies are running out of excuses for not repairing roads.

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