Within a week, the potholes are back!

KOCHI: The stretch between Chittoor-Vaduthala bridge and the Vaduthala level crossing, which was repaired last week, is again filled with potholes.A social activist Anthony Puthur said, “The work on the other parts of Chittoor Road, done by the Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL), is satisfactory.However, the section between Vaduthala level crossing and the bridge is non-motorable. The corporation had initiated the repair work after repeated complaints from the locals. Within days of the repair, the patchwork on the stretch wore off and the potholes are even bigger now.”He added that the residents of the area have requested the authorities to hand over the road work to the KMRL. Also, only 40 per cent of the patchwork is done on the stretch.Contractor T J Mathai, who had undertaken the work, said that he had stopped the work mid-way since the traffic on the stretch was too heavy and could not be blocked.“If the work has to be done at night, the wages are 50 per cent more than the daytime wages. I have already incurred a loss of Rs 2.5 lakh as the traffic had not been diverted as required,” he added.“Moreover, there will obvious differences between the work done as per the international standards and the one done according to the corporation’s limitations,” said Mathai.West Vaduthala Councillor Leslie Stephen said that a request has been sent to the Mayor as well as the District Collector to hand over the work to KMRL.“This road is not only one of the oldest in the city but also one of the busiest.It is even more congested now, owing to the traffic diversion as part of the North Rail Overbridge demolition,” he added.District Collector P I Sheikh Pareeth said that the matter would be considered and a meeting of all the authorities concerned would be held soon to discuss the same.