Road to nowhere

KOCHI: Had the roads been resurfaced using bituminised concreting, the city roads would have been more endurable. But neither the PWD nor the Kochi Corporation uses bituminised concreting, thanks to the seasoned contractors who do not have the equipment to carry out the work using the method.Even the Kerala High Court had suggested the PWD and the state government to repair all the roads in the state under a five-year guarantee scheme.It was while disposing of a petition filed by a Kochi-based firm regarding the pathetic condition of the roads that the court asked the state government to make clear its stand in this regard. But the government failed to submit an affidavit before the Court.“Even after two years, the authorities are unable to do any thing to ensure that the roads are being repaired under the performance guarantee scheme.If there was performance guarantee, the contractors would have been responsible for repairing road free-of-cost, if there arises any such need, within the completion of the guarantee period,” said Ajith Kumar, president, Travel Operators Association of Kerala.There are allegations that the Corporation authorities are not using the five-year guarantee scheme as the contractors who usually undertake the works in Kochi do not have adequate equipment, including pavers, to carry out the work. All the road works in the city, especially that of those owned by the Kochi Corporation, are being done by a couple of contractors.“All the works of Kochi Corporation are being undertaken by a couple of contractors.The Corporation authorities support these contractors for securing the repair works. There are irregularities in the tender procedures as well,” said N Venugopal, councillor, Kochi Corporation.“After using minimum materials like bitumen, the contractors sell the balance materials in black market,” he said.Now, the roads in the city are being re-surfaced using chipping carpet method. It is the 20-mm chipping carpet method that is being used for repairing most of the city roads.In some cases, they use 40-mm chipping carpet method, which is a more durable method.But they would never go beyond that. Consequently, the roads will have to be repaired after three or four months again. And that too using the amount from the exchequer.