VISAKHAPATNAM: The heavy downpour in
Vizag has further deteriorated the condition of the city’s roads. The number of
potholes
has increased and their condition has worsened, posing danger to motorists. Motorists have been appealing to the administration to repair the
roads
for quite some time now, but the appeals seem to have fallen on deaf ears.
A resident of MVP Colony, A Durga Prasad, said, “I was riding home on my bike on Wednesday evening when it was drizzling. There was a big pothole near MVP Colony Circle Junction and I luckily managed to control the bike averting an accident.”
“While Vizag is slated to become a smart city, the city’s roads have been going from bad to worse,” he said.
On an average, at least 130 fatalities have happened owing to potholes in
Andhra Pradesh in the last one year.
Sources say that faulty speed-breakers and under-construction roads have been responsible for more than 200 deaths this year.
T Srinath, another resident said that the civic body has failed in repairing roads and correct the faulty speed-breakers, despite repeated requests.
Even as some roads are being re-laid and repaired, manhole covers are not being fixed properly, posing a danger to motorists.
On many busy roads in the city, manhole covers are uneven— jutting out and above the road surface or are sunk below, forming potholes. While these might not cause fatal accidents, the dents on the roads are responsible for numerous minor accidents leading to major injuries.
Unevenly placed manholes were found on major roads including MVP Colony, Peda Waltair and Siripuram. Speaking to TOI, a
traffic
police official said that many two-wheeler riders have been losing control while driving over potholes. One can find potholes in
Madhurawada
, Gajuwaka and Muralinagar.
The city traffic police are planning to hold a meeting with the GVMC, Vuda, NHAI and other concerned departments to chalk out a plan to make the city’s roads safer.
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