Not Smart-Filling Potholes with Red Mud! Kulshekar Road has become a Slush Field/Dirt Track
Mangaluru: Following close on its heels after frustrated citizens of Mangaluru along with members of MCC Civic Group had held a silent protest in front of Mangaluru City Corporation building on 30 September, to bring to the attention of the MCC officials about the numerous potholed roads in the City- two days later on 2 October on 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, volunteers of the Kulshekar Church had taken up the task of filling the bunch of potholes on the entire stretch of road between Kulshekar Church and Kaikamba/Bikkaranakatte- while complimenting their good community service, however, filling the potholes with red mud was a not a Smart idea.
And this morning with rains lashing the city for few minutes, has turned the entire stretch of potholed Kulshekar road into a nightmare for motorists, especially the two-wheeler riders, who were finding a tough time to navigate through the slushy road- where a few riders lost balance on this “Slush Field”? The potholes have become “Mud Humps”, which has been slowing traffic. The road which was bad with potholes has now become much more worse than before with all these “Mud Humps”. Not a Smart move to fill the potholes with so much excess of mud, which has caused lots of inconveniences, and has become quite hazardous to the motorists.
Though modern technologies are there to fill potholes, our young volunteers used the primitive method- mud to cover gaping potholes. Instead of covering the potholes with jelly stones or mix it with tar, they went ahead using only red mud to cover the potholes- and the result seemed to be quite hazardous for motorists using the entire stretch of the road. Due to today’s morning’s rain, most of the mud is seen washed away, making the entire area slushy. One more rain and it will open up again. Or the holes might cave in if a heavy vehicles pass on them. And when it is a bright and sunny day, with heavy traffic moving on this road, mud dust particles fly into air, resulting in breathing problems for commuters and pedestrians.
People riding on two wheeler and driving light vehicles gave perplexed looks at the mud filled potholes. If it rains heavily again, the mud filled potholes are sure to become much more worse than today. Though the intensity of rain has reduced, rain water will again wash off the mud exposing the potholes again. This debris on the roadside will prove dangerous to motorists, especially two wheelers.
