Traffic police find 193 pothole-ridden spots on Coimbatore city roads

COIMBATORE An elderly couple from the city, who were travelling on a two-wheeler, had a lucky escape

An elderly couple from the city, who were travelling on a two-wheeler, had a lucky escape recently when they fell onto the road while trying to avoid a pothole. “Fortunately, no vehicles were plying immediately behind them,” said K. Kathirmathiyon of Coimbatore Consumer Cause who witnessed the incident.

“Several accidents happen in the city due to poor condition of roads or potholes. However, they are never recorded nor authorities responsible for ensuring safe roads are held responsible. The cause of the accident is straightly said as ‘negligent driving’ by the driver,” he said.

The recently published National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) statistics on accidents in 2021 show that Coimbatore reported 866 traffic accidents. However, as per the report, zero accidents have been reported under the category ‘lack of road infrastructure’ in the city. A few cities including Chennai (24), Delhi (14), Hyderabad (15) and Kochi (39) have reported lack of road infrastructure as a reason for accidents.

In a move to improve reporting and registering cases for accidents caused by poor road infrastructure, the traffic police identified 193 spots on Coimbatore city roads that are in bad condition. The list was given to District Collector G.S. Sameeran at a recent meeting of the District Road Safety Committee and the Collector has directed the Coimbatore Corporation and the Highways Department to take corrective steps at the earliest. He also asked to include the matter in the agenda of the committee for the next meetings for review.

“The list was prepared station wise based on the instructions of City Police Commissioner V. Balakrishnan. The aim of the police is to reduce accidents, save human lives and ensure smooth flow of traffic,” said N. Mathivanan, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic). Of the 193 places in the list, 106 are in traffic west limits and remaining in traffic east limits.

Commending the city police for coming up with such a list for the first time, Mr. Kathirmathiyon, also a member of the Road Safety Committee, said the intention of the police was not to find fault with other government officials.

“Now the blame is on the motorists for accidents caused by the poor condition of the roads. Only when the actual cause is exposed or recorded, the authorities will take corrective steps,” he said.