Kolhapur: Citizens had a feeling of jumping from the frying pan into the fire as the flood waters receded to reveal potholed roads on Thursday.
Roughly 80km to 100km roads constructed in last three years have suffered heavy damages. The city has a road network of 753km and the civic administration has asked all the ward-level officers to start inspection of the road conditions in their jurisdiction and provide details of actual damages at the earliest.
At least 25% of the city areas such as Shahupuri, Venus Corner, Collector Office, parts of Nagala Park, Tarabai Park, Jayanti Nullah bridge, parts of Kasba Bavda, Uttareshwar Peth and Shukrawar Peth have remained under water for more than 48 hours by now. The roads in the most of the other areas had turned into streams during the heavy rainfall leaving behind huge potholes.
"I travel from Samrat Nagar to Shahupuri every day. The roads in Rajarampuri and Shahupuri have become so bad, they seem to be beyond repair. I am surprised at the current conditions as the roads were repaired just a couple of months back. The stretch from Railway Gate to Rajarampuri has potholes that are a foot deep. Forget bike, it would be difficult to drive even a heavy vehicle on this stretch," said Devdatta Bhosale, IT professional.
Aneesh Mujawar, engineering student, said "Almost all the roads in the city have huge patches of potholes after the recent rains. The road from the collector office to Mahavir College does not have a single smooth patch. There are only potholes. At Babubhai Parikh Bridge, the condition is no different. It is causing huge inconvenience."
The Kolhapur Municipal Corporation (KMC) on Thursday decided that the roads damaged in the floods will be repaired by the contractors who constructed them. The KMC had already made an agreement with the contractors that they will repair the roads if it is damaged in three years after completion.
"We have prioritise the works to be done in the after-flood situation. From today, we have started cleaning the drainage lines blocked during the flood. At a few places, the flood still persists. Once the water recedes, we will start clearing the drainage lines. At the same time, we are evaluating the road conditions and will complete the task to get the exact idea how much damage has been done," municipal commissioner P Siva Sankar told TOI.
The city engineer office of KMC has issued a circular asking all the ward offices to start inspecting the road conditions. There is no deadline set at this moment as many areas are still flooded. However, it is clear that KMC will not have to bear the burden of road repair cost.
"Last year, we repaired 27 roads damaged in monsoon without putting in civic funds. There is a provision in our agreements with private contractors that they will repair the damages within three years of completion. We have constructed, developed and repaired most of the roads last year. So, we are still under warranty period and will ask the contractors to repair the roads," Netradeep Sarnobat, city engineer of KMC, said.
Along with KMC, the state public works department constructed roads in the city. The potholes on these roads have raised the questions regarding the quality of the construction. "The department spent Rs 20 crore on these roads. Now, we have to see whether these roads can be repaired by PWD or by the contractor as it is not KMC's responsibility," an official associated with the city road department said.