Save yourself from that pothole

Clad in neat attire for office, often one is smeared with muck and mud by a passing by vehicle. Curses and abuses may be exchanged but the damage is done. The fault lies not so much with the driver of the vehicle but government agencies who have failed to provide the common man –even basic infrastructure such as proper roads in monsoon.

How can you blame a driver completely when he has been forced to manuevre his vehicle on a pot-holed road? It might sound hilarious but the dialogue “sadak me gadda hai ya gadde me sadak” stands true for most roads in Delhi since even the erratic showers this season has played havoc with the badly maintained roads.

The scene is the same alm­ost everywhere. Every colony has a road or a lane that was dug up for construction and hastily repatched (if at all) and then, there developed potholes that cause traffic jams and inconvenience to pedestrians.

One such instance lies right in front of Town Hall, Chandni Chowk which sees a major portion of the road broken. Shatrughan Saar, a shopkeeper who has been in this area since 25 years says, “The road was dug up to fix a pipeline but since then it hasn’t been leveled. Due to rain, the gutters overflow and the water clogs the area. During peak hours between 6 pm to 9 pm, the traffic is at its worst and the bad condition of road adds to the problem.” When were the roads were last laid? He strains but fails to recollect.
  
If North delhi is considered bad in terms of infrastructure take a look at East Delhi where road wreck is rampant. Travelling on roads is a menace because of long rugged stretches at various places which add to the woes of commuters and pedestrians.

Ramesh Arora, a 35-year old businessman who comm­u­tes daily from Jheel to Sha­h­dara says, “This road was constructed around 6-7 months back. It remained in good condition till the elections were around but just after the first rain, the true picture has become clear. The construction was absolutely improper since the road is in even worse condition now. The road to Welcome Metro Station via Bhajanpura is full of potholes and water logging even after light showers makes the traffic go berserk.”

The story is the same in Central Delhi where potholes in Jhandewalan Extension are so in the face yet no action has been taken by the PWD.

Particularly bad is the stretch from Metro Station to Videocon Tower where roads are in an extremely bad shape. Mohammad Nadeem, who deals in generator servicing frequents the area for his business and often gets stuck in traffic due to the bad condition of roads.

“If I am on my bike then I can give a miss to the traffic but if I am in my car then I am sure to get stuck because the condition of roads is pathetic. If it is raining then it is difficult for me to travel on bike. So in both the situations, I am left with no solution because the water logging do­e­s­n’t even allow me to walk do­wn from the Metro station to the Videocon Tower.”

So, it is difficult to drive, terrible to walk and out of the qu­e­stion to remain within ho­me due to bad roads. If this is the case when the monsoon is in deficit, may God forbid proper rain this season!