‘Pookalam Effect’ News is Not True! National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) Fixed Only ONE Pothole Just An Eye Wash? Following up on a bunch of news published in the media that NHAI Officials have responded to the unique idea by a lady educational consultant highlighting the pothole with Onam ‘Pookalam’ flower arrangement, by repairing the potholes. But this morning Team Mangalorean found out that ONLY the pothole highlighted with ‘Pookalam’ has been repaired, while the rest of the potholes are still existing, creating inconveniences and safety hazard to commuters and motorists. Anyways, congrats to Radhika Deemanth Suvarna, that at least ONE pothole has been fixed after her unique efforts. The photos of potholes incorporated in this report were taken at 7 am Today ( 3 Sept)
Mangaluru : Following up on a bunch of news published in a few media, that National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) officials have taken action in repairing the potholes, after a lady Educational Consultant Ms Radhika Deemanth Suvrana, had highlighted the pathetic road filled with pothole, with her unique idea by decorating the pothole with traditional Onam flower arrangement “Pookalam’, Team Mangalorean visited the service roads adjacent to the Kankanady Pumpwell Flyover- and was surprised to note that ONLY ONE POTHOLE had been fixed, that was decorated with Pookalam, while the rest of the potholes existed still in pathetic condition.
BEFORE ……..
AFTER REPAIR ……
Following close on its heels after Team Mangalorean had published an article yesterday, 2 September 2020 (Ref: Pumpwell Bale, Gundi Thule? Lady Educational Consultant Highlights Potholed Road with Onam ‘Pookalam’ ), visited the Pumpwell Flyover Service Roads this morning, 3 September, in order to find the website effect, following our report. Unfortunately, NHAI had not done much in rectifying the long pending issue of these dilapidated service roads- except ONLY ONE POTHOLE had been repaired- which was nothing but an EYE WASH to fool the media and public. Team Mangalorean contacted NHAI Chief Engineer Shiva Shanker and asked why only One pothole was fixed, and not others- and his reply was “We wanted to repair all the potholes, but unexpected rains stopped further work. We will resume the work today (3 September) and rectify this civic issue”.
Whether the NHAI engineer really meant it, or was it just a rain related excuse, we will have to wait and see. Also when asked why they were not using bitumen to fix the potholes, instead of putting loose tar/concrete stuff over it, his answer was that bitumen is not available at the moment, and would take some time. But it should be noted that the bitumen is not available , a reason or excuse I could say, which we have been hearing for months. Anyways, as promised by Engineer Shiva Shankar, that the potholes will be fixed by today, we hope that they will be done, so that commuters and motorists will have a smooth journey.
Anyways, it was a well thought idea by Ms Radhika, thereby waking up the authorities to take action and do the needful before more people get into accidents. At least for now, the concerned authorities have fixed ONE Pothole- hoping that they will take care of the rest soon. Because, anyone who had the misfortune of commuting on this stretch of service road will testify what a great pain the ride is – literally – owing to the numerous potholes that punctuate the road. I bet a ride on this stretch is akin to a ride on a ‘ camel’s ‘ back- just bumpy! Yes, this is a busy road, and every commuter taking this road has nursed the after-effects of juddering over potholes of all shapes and sizes.
No doubt bunch of our City roads are in SHAMBLES, PATHETIC, very DISGRACEFUL, and totally DISASTROUS?- including the one near Pumpwell flyover. NHAI should take quick action to fix the potholes before they get deep and worse — thereby avoiding severe driving hazards and vehicle damages. So while Radhika Suvarna put her effort and idea in highlighting this civic issue regarding pathetic service roads filled with potholes, other citizens/motorists also need to raise their voices or come up with action plans or ideas, so that the sleeping authorities will quickly wake up and do the needful.
