Potholes resurface on Kochi roads after patch-up

Kochi: The road repair works done in haste along the Edapally-Mannuthy stretch along the National Highway in central Kerala is turning out to be a farce as potholes resurface just a few days after a patch-up.

The repair works at many places were carried out without a road roller and using substandard tar.

Such shoddy work was carried out even other parts of Kochi City and adjacent areas on both NH and State Highway segments.

For instance the potholes along the Varapuzha Bridge were filled on Wednesday without using a road roller.

Also, substandard tar — just a mix of emulsion and pulverized rock pieces — was used as a quick-fix.

The small potholes formed on the road towards the Paravur direction were not even filled. Many potholes near the median are not even filled.

The two deep potholes near the Kochi Municipal Corporation office at Vytilla are yet to be filled and continue to pose a threat to motorists.

The deep pothole at Nedumbassery, which caused the death of Manjali native Shahim a few days ago, was filled twice within a short period.

The repairs done on the stretch beyond Karukutty were done in a haphazard manner and without adequate tarring. The deep pothole at Karayamparambu was filled last month but it has formed again.

Similarly, the potholes repaired at Elavur Junction and those between Karukutty Junction and Old Checkpost have all resurfaced.

The shoddy repair works were done without the supervision of any National Highway Authority officials or those from the contracting company.

State roads

The pothole-filling exercise at many places along the Kerala Public Works Department (KPWD) roads too, has come a cropper. Just brooms and hoes were used to cover up potholes at HMT Junction at Kalamassery.

The workers first removed the dust in the potholes using the broom and filled it with substandard tar. They fixed the same with hoes and deposited sand granules over them.

The pothole at the beginning of the Container Road, too, was filled using the quick-fix solution. The workers left after covering the patch with paper.

Similarly, the craters along the Kariyad-Matoor road where two young women fell from their bike and got seriously injured were filled just by using the hoes. The tar mix brought in a mini-lorry was poured in the potholes using the hoes and fixed by moving the vehicle over them a few times.

In neighbouring Thrissur district, the potholes along the National Highway at Chalakudy and Koratty Junction, and those on the stretch between Puthukkad and Nellayi were filled on Tuesday and have not yet resurfaced!