Social media network to spot damaged roads in Kochi

Kochi: Soon, the district administration will follow your Facebook post and fill the potholes on the road or cover an exposed drainage. The administration with the help of Kochi  Corporation and other stakeholders has mooted a plan for setting up a social media network with the participation of the public to spot the damaged roads and slabs, uncovered drainage  and  potholes for immediate rectification.

Collector M.G. Rajamanickam made the submission before  a High Court bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Thottathil B. Radhakrishnan and Justice Anu Sivaraman  on the  decisions taken to make the city walkers-friendly again.   The court was considering a Public Interest Litigation filed by by Roshan Jacob Oommen, a lawyer. According to him, the incessant rain had flooded the  roads in the city because the authorities had failed to repair the potholes. The pedestrians were forced to walk along the potholed footpaths and over  uncovered manholes, risking their lives.

The petitioner sought a directive to cover all the uncovered manholes on the footpaths and repair the potholed roads. He also asked the police to clear off the footpaths and take action against those who parked vehicles on the walkways. The district administration had convened a meeting of  all the stakeholders, including GCDA, corporation, PWD, DMRC and KMRL, on June 23. 

The agencies agreed to do a spot inspection and identify the same on a war-footing so to complete the rectification work expeditiously. The meeting pointed to the lack of pre-monsoon maintenance and activities that have reduced the roads to a pathetic condition, Kochi Metro Rail Ltd and Delhi Metro Rail Corporation  informed the collector that slabs removed owing to the Metro works would be rectified by them.

“It was agreed that the Kochi Corporation has to be more vigilant with respect to the condition of walkways and roads so as to make the passage pedestrian- friendly,”  the affidavit said.  The collector also sought the assistance of the district police chief in clearing the illegal parking.