City roads reach ‘new heights’ but slump in quality

Trichy Corporation may have finally commenced work on Rs 11.6 crores worth of road laying in the city. But the way the work on the 38 segments is being taken up has come in for heavy criticism from the residents. It is the all-too-familiar "quick fix solution" of adding a new layer over the existing one without scrapping the surface. This short-sighted method not only compromises the quality of the road but also invites inundation of the adjoining area during rain.
With the height of the arterial roads increasing, road safety experts opined that the unscientific road construction went against the guidelines of Indian Roads Congress (IRC). It also jeopardised the safety of commuters while walking on the edge of the road where the surface would be uneven.


Citing the monsoon, the civic body had postponed road works in 20 of the 65 city wards last year. Coming after three years, the works initiated by the local body concentrate more on the Central bus stand, Cantonment, Raja Colony and Bharathidasan Salai localities. These were the most damaged stretches of the city. With the monsoon withdrawing, the civic body commenced the road works that were put on hold in the middle of this month. After covering Salai Road in Woraiyur and Royal Road, McDonalds Road near the Central bus stand, work is now under way on Collector Office Road.
No doubt the effort is intended for the betterment of city, but the method of implementing only makes it a superficial effort. Road safety experts point out that the surface of old roads should be roughened either using labour or machinery before laying new ones. This is a key protocol of the IRC to be followed while constructing urban roads. As per IRC guidelines mentioned under construction procedure 4.1.1 and 4.1.2, the base to receive the new layer of road should be cleared of dust and dirt. The surface of existing road should be scarified and levelled for required grade. However, in the ongoing projects of the city corporation only the dust and dirt on the road are cleared and the existing road is not furrowed.
"Surface of the old road should be cleaned before laying a new road but even such a procedure is hardly followed. National Highways are good in quality because of their adherence to technical specification whereas city roads laid in haste become unmotorable in a few months," M Sekaran, member road safety council, said. Apart from quality of the road, such unscientific road construction works are a threat to nearby residents whose houses fall below the road height. "Unscientific road works have put our neighbourhoods under threat during heavy monsoons. Our locality was well above the level of roads but as the new roads were laid over the existing ones in the past 15 years, the entrance of our houses is now well below the road level," R Jayabalan, retired PWD engineer from Renga Nagar, said.
On the stretches of Collector Office Road and Royal Road, the motorable portions have risen 5-6 inches from their early level due to the poor implementation of IRC guidelines. When contacted, Corporation Commissioner N Ravichandran said, "Contractors laying the roads will be insisted upon to furrow the old roads before laying a new road."

Source