No respite from potholes, commuters bear the brunt in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj

PRAYAGRAJ: Even as the October 15 deadline set by chief minister Yogi Adityanath to ensure pothole-free roads across the state is fast approaching, roads dotted with craters continue to burn holes in the pockets of two-wheeler and car owners in the Sangam city.
The condition of some of the roads including Tashkent marg, Tagore town road, Georgetown, roads near Manmohan Park, Old Katra, Netram Chauraha, Civil Lines bus stand, Rajapur trisection and adjoining areas are in such bad shape that a mishap seems inevitable.
Moreover, the recent downpour and poor patch and repair work have compounded the woes of commuters. While chief minister Yogi Adityanath had cautioned officials of various departments to ensure quality work and even warned that complaints of irregularities will be dealt with severely, concerned development agencies are yet to initiate measures in the city.
City-based physician Dr Anupam Dwivedi told TOI that the Tashkent marg was in the worst condition and driving had become next to impossible on this stretch. The road was widened for commuting and even after the construction of dividers months back, there was no beginning of road construction till now.
The corporator and senior Congress leader Mukund Tiwari said that nearly two lakh vehicles ply on the roads in different parts of the city every day and over 40 per cent of the vehicles develop snags regularly, thanks to the crater and pothole-filled roads. Every month, hundreds of new vehicles hit the streets and these are also not spared from the fast decay due to bad road conditions. The poor condition of tabletops crossings also cause damages to vehicles’ suspensions. The cost of repairing these damages in most cases for SUVs and other expensive cars range from Rs 5,000 to Rs 15,000, and these are not even covered under the insurance policies.
“Insurance can be claimed only when cars suffer damages in accidents. The cost of repairing luxury vehicles is spiralling up, but the damages cannot be insured,” said the owner of an automobile garage at Civil Lines adding that despite holding insurance policies, car owners have to shell out money for repairs.” Apart from suspensions, ravaged roads wreak havoc on different car parts, especially axles, wheels and tyres. “The car’s alignment system suffers due to bad roads and it costs considerably to repair the cars even if the damages are minor,” said a car owner who had to go for the repair of his vehicle.