Last week, a Mumbai court acquitted an autorickshaw driver, accused of causing the death of a passenger, saying that bad roads can lead to a fatality, without the fault of the driver. “I completely relate to this situation. I am forced to move zig-zag on some of the roads full of potholes and craters,” says an exasperated Srinivasa Rao, an auto driver from Ashok Nagar.
Bad roads is an issue that has raised serious concern among public and politicians alike. The holes in the roads that people thud over in their cars or swerve around on their two-wheelers now threaten more than just a ‘bumpy ride’.
The unanimity over bad roads and the futility of repeated complaints has led to a few Good Samaritans taking the lead in carrying out the task of repairing the roads at places like the Vijayawada-Nuzvid highway and roads connecting Vissannapet, Mylavaram and Agiripalli where the Nuzvid sub-division police took up the cause of filling the potholes. The Station House Officers and their teams identified accident-prone areas and submitted a report to their higher-ups before pooling the money needed to fix the potholes. Of the total number of fatalities in road accidents in Krishna district, 30% are said to be on these stretches.
The YSR Congress Party has been facing the heat over the issue for some time. The countless cracks, breaches and wide openings in the road network across the State has led to public anger and disapproval of the prolonged neglect. The Opposition TDP’s protests and Jana Sena Party’s online campaign to what the party chief Pawan Kalyan called “expose the utter failure of the ruling party to address the most pressing issue” has garnered considerable support from all sections.
CM’s directive
The Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, meanwhile, at a recent review meeting, directed the officials to focus on repair works after the monsoon recedes. He blamed neglect of road maintenance by the TDP during its rule and heavy rains that, he said, caused the damage since 2019.
According to the officials, besides bringing the lost smoothness of the road network in the State, plans are also afoot for laying new ones with a financial assistance of ₹6,400 crore from the New Development Bank. Works related to the Vijayawada-Bengaluru national highway via Kodikonda check-post are said to be on fast track while focus is also on the Sheelanagar-Sabbavaram national highway in Visakhapatnam.
That bad roads in some places have turned death traps was demonstrated by the opposition party leaders who planted paddy saplings in water-filled potholes and craters.
Role of APRDC
The public anger is an amalgamation of many aspects. In September last year, the government levied ₹1 road development cess on petrol and diesel and it was the second time in two months that the tax on automobile fuel was hiked. In addition to the existing levies on petrol and diesel, the road development cess was imposed considering the need to allocate dedicated funds to develop roads. Special Chief Secretary (Revenue) Rajat Bhargav had said that the around ₹500 crore annual income accrued would be transferred to the Andhra Pradesh Road Development Corporation (APRDC) for exclusive use of developing road infrastructure.
Sources indicate that the plan may not work as the APRDC has no funds and the money it had borrowed in 2019 was ‘diverted’ by the previous TDP government for implementation of one of its populist schemes. With the RDC burdened with the task of paying a huge interest along with the principal amount for the loan, it does not have any funds to spare for road repairs.
The government is under pressure with demands growing louder for a white paper on the condition of roads, allocation of funds and their diversion.
“Tenders called by the government recently have evoked poor response,” says Ashok Kumar of Lok Satta Party, informing that of the 1,143 road works for which tenders were invited, there were responses only for 200. “The contractors, still waiting for old dues, have lost trust in the government,” he says.