Potholes bane of Bhiwani commuters
Deepender Deswal
Tribune News Service
Bhiwani, October 26
The condition of roads and streets is pitiable in Bhiwani. Though locals had raised the demand for better infrastructure and cleanliness, the authorities paid no heed. It is a bumpy ride on many roads here and they are in deplorable condition due to potholes despite the flow of funds for the repair by various agencies, including the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), Public Works Department Buildings and Roads (PWD (B&R)), marketing board and municipal council.
Ashok Bhardwaj, a social activist, said all stretches there were in bad shape. “Some of the stretches that need repair include Tosham road, Delhi-Pilani road, Hansi Chowk to Azad Chowk, Hanuman Gate to Pipli Wali Johri, Haluwas Chowk to Devsar Chowk, Mukti Dham and Halu Bazar and Hanuman Gate to Railway Road. The condition of these stretches becomes worse during rainy season and adds to commuters’ woes,” he said.
He said during the 2014 assembly elections, the roads and developmental works here became a political issue. The BJP accused the Congress of ignoring developmental works but, now that BJP has been in power for nearly six years, little seems to have changed in the town, he alleged.
Bhardwaj, who himself carries out patchwork on pothole-ridden roads, said he had raised the issue with the authorities several times but to no avail. “Following several complaints, local BJP MLA Ghanshyam Sharaf visited a stretch and a PWD (B&R) chief engineer also made a special visit to inspect the condition of a stretch near Hanuman Gate area, but fed up with the slow pace of the authorities to better the conditions, I often have to carry out the patchwork by myself as much possible,” he said.
Kranti Singh, a resident of Vidhya Nagar, said besides main roads, the streets and pathways in the residential localities too were in miserable condition. “The repair work undertaken by the authorities concerned too is not up to the mark. Well built roads are sometimes dug up by various government agencies to lay sewage or cable lines,” he said adding that even the flyover on the Delhi-Pilani road was in bad shape due to potholes and uneven surface which had led to several road mishaps.
PWD (B&R) executive engineer Krishan Kumar said repair work of various broken stretches had been taken up by the authorities. “We have got an environmental clearance for Rs 6.5 crore project of widening the Tosham Road stretch, the tenders for which will be floated soon. Rest of the roads of the PWD (B&R) are in good condition,” he said.
