Slugfest over bad roads in Kochi

KOCHI: The tug of war between mayor Soumini Jain and district collector M.G. Rajamanickam over bad state of roads in the city has entered a new level with Ms Jain hitting back at his submission in the High Court. The collector had on Monday made a submission before the court that the city corporation had failed in carrying out the pre-monsoon cleaning works resulting in bad roads and footpaths.

Ms Jain claimed that most of the corporation-owned roads were repaired, and slabs of the drains along these roads restored and rearranged before the monsoon onset. “The PWD roads which come under the jurisdiction of the collector are in very poor condition. Instead of repairing them it is not ideal to blame another agency for the poor state of affairs,” she said.

According to the mayor, it is the lack of scientific drainage system in the city which results in easy damaging of roads developed using bitumen macadam and bitumen concrete on a five-year guarantee.    "When this is the reality, the collector is trying to misguide the court through wrong statements," she said.

“The civic body has carried out the annual pre-monsoon cleaning of drains and canals.” The mayor added that all agencies concerned like National Highway Authority of India, PWD and Greater Cochin Development Authority should work together to upgrade the quality of city roads as per the standards fixed by Indian Road Congress. The Centre and State governments should also provide financial assistance for modernising them and to scientifically reconstruct the drainage system in the city, she added.