Civic agencies caught napping as rain leaves gaping potholes on Kochi city roads

Kochi faces worsening potholes due to lack of pre-monsoon maintenance, NGOs urge use of cold-mix bitumen for repairs.

The Kochi Corporation and the Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) have been caught napping as potholes that developed on many busy roads during the past year turned bigger following the recent rains, mainly due to lack of pre-monsoon preventive maintenance works.

Making matters worse, little effort has gone into repairing the potholes that turned bigger despite availability of options like cold-mix bitumen that is available in sacks, say NGOs and residents’ associations.

“Civic agencies that failed to execute pre-monsoon road and drain repair works are now not keen on using cold-mix bitumen that is readily available and is apt for road repair work during rainy weather,” said S. Gopakumar, architect and president of Better Kochi Response Group (BKRG), an NGO that organised innumerable live demos of the mode of road repairs before mayors, engineers and others during the past decade.

“Massive funds that are spent on road-repair works can be saved if civic agencies, PWD and NHAI focus on preventive maintenance. With that not being done in many roads, a medium sized goods carrier manned by a driver and a helper is all that is needed to restore roads using cold-mix bitumen. Apart from saving substantially on labour, its advantage over conventional patch work using bitumen is that the material solidifies within five minutes of it being filled in a pothole.

“There is no need for road-roller type reinforcement either, since it can be tamped down using a flat wooden or metal piece. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds can be sourced for such fast-setting repair works, in case civic agencies are short on funds,” he added.

The general secretary of the Ernakulam District Residents Associations’ Apex Council (EDRAAC), P.C. Ajith Kumar, who is also State general secretary of the Confederation of Residents’ Welfare Associations, too wondered why materials like cold mix bitumen are not being relied on to prevent potholes turning bigger. “Civic and other agencies must also take care to ensure that roads have sufficient gradient for rainwater to percolates into drains. They also owe an explanation why de-clogging and dredging of drains and canals was not done well before the rains.”

Above all, EDRAAC had been demanding that all roads be resurfaced or repaired with a warranty and boards be displayed mentioning the warranty period, contractor’s name etc., This has not happened as yet, he said.