Mumbai:
Shoddy work by the stormwater drains department (SWD) has once again left city roads in a miserable state. Stretches on three roads in Dadar have sunk in after repairs of box drains were carried out by the SWD.
In July this year, the box cement drains were converted into pipe drains at Ghanti Road, Dinshaw Master Road and Jahangir Vima Road in Dadar's Parsi Colony. Over the next two months, trenches surfaced on all three by-lanes. In September, the stretches broke after a truck carrying piles of garden tiles passed over the damaged portions of the roads.
Despite repeated complaints from residents, rectification of the trenches has not taken place yet. "Although the drains were repaired, reinstatement of the roads was not carried out properly. The roads sank in September, but civic officials have turned a blind eye to the problem," said Homi Lord, a resident.
Citizens fear that any further deepening of the roads may damage the stormwater drains and choke the pipelines running below.
Meanwhile, the SWD department continues to be oblivious to the mess. "I have no information about the collapse. I will check my records and then rectify the problem," said a senior official from the SWD-city.
This is not the only case of roads being damaged because of the SWD's lousy work. In the past two years, 12 incidents of road cave-ins have been reported. Out of these, the incidents at Saat Rasta (Jacob Circle), Cadbury Junction (Peddar Road), Shravan Yashwante Chowk (Kalachowkie), Narayan Hardikar Road (Worli) and Edenwala Road were because of the dilapidated condition of the underground utilities.
"How can civic officials pretend to be ignorant of the matter?" said activist Nikhil Desai. "Several letters have been written to them to survey the area and rectify the trenches. The road contractor who reinstated the road should be blacklisted and the SWD officials ought to be sacked for delaying the corrective actions."
However, SY Kurhade, assistant commissioner of F/North ward, assured that the problem will be dealt with on a war footing. "The onus of the mishap lies on the SWD officials and not the road contractor. Necessary action will be taken immediately to prevent further damage to the underground utilities," he said.
Under license from www.3dsyndication.com
In July this year, the box cement drains were converted into pipe drains at Ghanti Road, Dinshaw Master Road and Jahangir Vima Road in Dadar's Parsi Colony. Over the next two months, trenches surfaced on all three by-lanes. In September, the stretches broke after a truck carrying piles of garden tiles passed over the damaged portions of the roads.
Despite repeated complaints from residents, rectification of the trenches has not taken place yet. "Although the drains were repaired, reinstatement of the roads was not carried out properly. The roads sank in September, but civic officials have turned a blind eye to the problem," said Homi Lord, a resident.
Citizens fear that any further deepening of the roads may damage the stormwater drains and choke the pipelines running below.
Meanwhile, the SWD department continues to be oblivious to the mess. "I have no information about the collapse. I will check my records and then rectify the problem," said a senior official from the SWD-city.
This is not the only case of roads being damaged because of the SWD's lousy work. In the past two years, 12 incidents of road cave-ins have been reported. Out of these, the incidents at Saat Rasta (Jacob Circle), Cadbury Junction (Peddar Road), Shravan Yashwante Chowk (Kalachowkie), Narayan Hardikar Road (Worli) and Edenwala Road were because of the dilapidated condition of the underground utilities.
"How can civic officials pretend to be ignorant of the matter?" said activist Nikhil Desai. "Several letters have been written to them to survey the area and rectify the trenches. The road contractor who reinstated the road should be blacklisted and the SWD officials ought to be sacked for delaying the corrective actions."
However, SY Kurhade, assistant commissioner of F/North ward, assured that the problem will be dealt with on a war footing. "The onus of the mishap lies on the SWD officials and not the road contractor. Necessary action will be taken immediately to prevent further damage to the underground utilities," he said.
Under license from www.3dsyndication.com
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