Rain. road. risk.

 

 

 

The quality of city roads that once seemed smooth got exposed after the recent rains. Gravel has come up and people are finding it difficult to drive/ride on. These uneven roads are inviting accidents as two-wheelers are skidding on these roads. Against the backdrop of heavy rains, this particular aspect of bad condition of road remains neglected. Recently, there was a small mishap on Shivaji Nagar Road when a two-wheeler skidded off the road because of the bad condition. The road from RTO to University Campus has been damaged completely. If one pays a visit to these roads, one would realise these roads are not roads anymore. They have broken into pieces and now all the loose gravel poses danger to the drivers/riders. It was Madan Gopal Agrawal, the then Mayor of Nagpur, who in the year 1958 had introduced the concept of cement road. Sitabuldi Main Road, Subhash Road, Malviya Road and Shivaji Nagar Road were the first four cement roads of Nagpur.

 

This cement road, with three others in the city, were built in 1958. For 60 years, the roads were perfectly fine. About 10 years ago, they developed cracks leading to potholes. There were no commercial establishments at Shivaji Nagar Road then, like other three roads. But it was connected to Dharampeth Main Road. The authorities did not consider Dharampeth Main Road to be included in the list of roads to be concretised. Now, when every single lane of Nagpur is being concretised, surprisingly, Shivaji Nagar road, one of the oldest cement roads, was tarred in March this year. But the recent rain devastated the tar layer of the road and its condition turned from bad to worst. Similarly, the road between Pratap Nagar Square and Somalwar Nikalas School has been damaged by the recent rains and the road became gravelly. The other side of the road is being concretised which is closed for traffic because of which the commuters have to use this damaged tar road.

 

The condition of Katol Road, which approaches Raj Bhavan, is no different. Similar risky situation dominates a long, tarred stretch of road in Jaitala. Big potholes just make the situation worse. Loose metal raises question mark over the quality of tarring on Shivaji Nagar Road. Within just over four months, a brief spell of rain has damaged the road. Almost every year, the road gets damaged and then it gets a wishy-washy patch work. But this year’s rain brought the real condition of the roads in city to the fore. The roads get damaged and the gravels carpeting the stretch has become a regular feature. The dust just adds to the risk of respiratory problems for the road users. Take example of Amravati Road. Every year it gets repaired, people start using it with the hope they would keep enjoying its smoothness forever. It doesn’t happen. The recent showers again exposed this man-made patch work and the cover of the road was broken into pieces. These pieces or gravels or metals are spread all over the road. They not only led to potholes at some places but also formed a heap. In both cases driving has become dangerous. At one place, one part of the road is completely damaged with gravels on it and other small part is in some good shape and if a commuter wants to go, he or she has to take the vehicle up and travel on a road which is relatively better. Vikas Thakre, MLA has decided to take up this issue with the Government. The repairing work should provide a permanent solution, felt Thakre.