Unrepaired roads mess up citizens’ lives

KOCHI: City residents are at the receiving end as the civic agencies are yet to complete regular road repair works and pre-monsoon cleaning of drains and canals.

With summer rains having intensified, many of the roads and junctions witness traffic congestion.

Vehicles have to negotiate the damaged and flooded roads. Several roads in the eastern parts of the city, which were trenched for cable laying, are yet to be restored.

“It is really tough to manage movement of vehicles when it rains. The lack of awareness on proper road management and instances of traffic rule violations are the major problems,” said Beena Antony, a traffic warden.

Irregular traffic signalling system at busy junctions like Kaloor often results in a long queue of vehicles. Even ambulances find it difficult to make their way in the heavy traffic.

Pedestrians are having harrowing times due to the bad state of footpaths along the Metro corridor. Water logging is another problem faced by commuters as most of the drains and canals have been clogged with debris from Metro sites. Since most of the busy bus stops have no bus shelters, passengers have to wait under the hot sun and heavy rains. Residents from Edapally to Kaloor are affected the most.

The city residents are apprehensive as the situation will be worse in the coming days with the onset of monsoon and reopening of schools and colleges.