Digging Never Stops in Kudla! Now it’s the Turn of KPTCL to Destroy new roads & Interlocks?
Mangaluru: Go around the City, at every nook and corner you will find City roads dug up either for Road widening, Drainage Work, Footpath Construction, etc etc. This is the state of the roads in Mangaluru-The so-called SMART CITY. Even though commuters/motorists have reportedly complained to the authorities several times, it has been in vain. Frequent road digging by various authorities has contributed to the present state everywhere.
Residents and motorists are not even able to commute on such dug-up streets, and despite the repeated complaints to the authorities concerned, their pleas have gone unnoticed. While MCC or MSCL attempt to fix the dug-up roads, various other authorities like Utility companies, GAIL gas Co Ltd; and PWD. Cable cos. and others dig them up again for the laying of drainage lines and underground cables, respectively.
People have made several complaints on the MCC website about civic issues troubling them, but their grievances are yet to be resolved. There is a great risk that is posed by such roads. People can easily get into accidents. Now and then, different authorities come and start to dig up stretches. Citizens even protested long back to stop the digging of roads here. We only got assurances that no repeated digging will take place, but it is still going on,” said a citizen.
Even though MCC and MSCL have been spending crores of rupees in the name of road development, the roads are in deplorable conditions. When residents complain in the ward committee meetings, engineers start blaming each other and say that it does not fall under their division. The real problem is not solved. Pits are left open and people can fall quite easily.
In many areas, there is no space for people to take their vehicles out. Moreover, steel rods are protruding from road work which might turn out to be very dangerous for pedestrians, especially for children. And at many places when roads are already narrow, and the debris is further taking up the space, people have to book vehicles from apps so that they can reach their destinations.
Now Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation (KPTCL) has taken up digging all along the stretch of M G Road, KSRTC bus stand road, opp M C C building lalbagh and other locations putting motorists and pedestrians in hardship.
They have gone ahead with digging without informing the businesses and residences in those areas making people’s lives miserable, and the best part is that they give a damn. With digging, the whole city looks like a construction site now. Seems like In India, including Mangaluru, anyone can do it. anything anytime, nobody has guys to question.
Half of the roads are encroached for parking outside as people don’t want to have extra space for parking while building their houses. Another half is used for putting construction materials, laying cables, pipelines, etc. Not nowadays… Every day someone or another keeps digging the roads in the City and the caretakers are either least bothered or with deaf ears…The reason is that perhaps no one in Mangaluru is fully aware of which roads are/will be dug and for what reason. – Saying so from my observation for years there is no one to take the complete responsibility of digging up the roads.
Many of the roads are dug for laying cables etc. Our water and sanitary pipes are running near the places where they dig. What if there is contamination? Who will take responsibility? Reliance and Ambani are unstoppable these days.
With no accountability of any sort, anybody with political clout and money to bribe can dig a road with no questions asked. First, it was for optic cables then it was for water pipes then sewage then MESCOM then gas pipes then my neighbour then my other neighbour then the guy from the corner tea stall Nobody and I mean nobody has a clue…. I think dug-up roads and potholes are the government’s answer to prevent people from settling here so that they can decongest the city…. Doesn’t matter if you pay taxes or the fact you were born here.
Since the majority of us are busy with our work we don’t know who is digging and what they are digging silently. Citizens are facing hardship. And when it rains it actively and innovatively takes advantage of poor quality materials used in road construction and creates shallows in roads and fills water in it to reflect the face of riders and mesmerize them to forget the actual culprits. And the funniest part is that the same roads/spots are dug again..and again..and again. What joke and what kind of Engineers do we have in the so-called SMART CITY?
On a final note, Why are the roads continuously under construction in Mangaluru? It’s not planned and it takes an eternity to build a road. How can Mangaluru plan for growth from a road and infrastructure perspective? Who is responsible for fixing the potholes on our City roads and what are they (not) doing about it? Why does Mangaluru have the worst infrastructure among other cities? Can any “Educated Authorities” either from Mangaluru City Corporation or “Smart Engineers” from Mangaluru Smart City Limited answer these questions?