Ahmedabad: City of potholes

Heavy rainfall in the city till now has dented many a road, making commuting a challenging and risky affair. However, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) does not seem quite eager to deal with the problem of potholes.

The whopping Rs700 crore that AMC has spent on roads has done little to provide safe and pothole-free roads to Amdavadis. Lack of quality control measures and supervision seems to be the reason behind this menace.

There is hardly any road in the city that has not been washed away during this monsoon. However, officials of the engineering department of different zones in the city can’t see what a common citizen can. For example, as per figures with the east zone engineering department — that has 13 wards under its jurisdiction— only small stretches on three roads have incurred damages due to rain. Contrary to this, a BJP corporator from Bapunagar ward said two major roads — Bhidbhanjan Hanuman to Bapunagar crossroads and Sonaria Block to LB Shastri Stadium — have been completely damaged.

Similar is the case at chief minister Narendra Modi’s constituency — Maninagar. As per the engineering department’s information, except a stretch of 500 metre at Millatnagar crossroads, the entire area is pothole-free.

However, a BJP corporator has complained that the road from Pandit Dindayal Bhavan to Hirabhai Tower has been badly damaged. Road conditions have left the citizens in a tizzy. “Because of potholes, traffic moves at snail’s pace.

Moreover, it also increases chances of accidents,” said Raj Joshi, a resident of Nava Wadaj. He also questioned quality control measures taken by the civic body.

At present, the assistant engineer and assistant city engineer are responsible for conducting surprise visits for quality check. However, they seem least interested in checking the quality.

Surendra Baxi, former leader of opposition in AMC, blamed the corrupt practices of ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and AMC officials for the poor condition of the roads. “If road contractors are family, AMC is the earning member of that family,” said Baxi.

BJP corporators cannot express their anguish openly, but they blame the poor quality on absence of a quality control policy. “One should not expect everything to be cheap. The contractors are already quoting 15 to 30 per cent less than the estimated cost of the project. Therefore, it is nothing but foolishness to expect better quality,” said a BJP corporator from new west zone.

He also added that AMC should abide by strict tender terms and conditions and demand high quality by paying proper cost of construction.