Broken slabs prove to be deathtraps

TRIPUNITHURA: If the potholes in the roads are deathtraps for two-wheeler riders, the broken slabs along the sides of the roads which supposedly cover the drainage await the fall of the ill-fated pedestrians all the time.Unni of SKS Sounds near Sree Poornathrayeesha Temple is probably the first victim of one such broken slab. On Saturday evening, Unni’s right leg got trapped into the wide gap of one such broken slab. The rust covered steel rods of the slab pierced his leg causing deep wounds.The newly sworn-in UDF council in the Municipality had started their tenure promising the beautification of the small stretch of road from Statue Junction to Sree Poornathrayeesha Temple. “We do not expect any such beautification. But the authorities can at least replace the broken slabs over the drains to save the lives of the people walking through this busy stretch,” said Unni. Most of the people passing through this road are aged ladies and students. If one of those aged people fall into the drain through the wide gap between the broken slabs, it might prove fatal, Unni feels. Similar slabs can also be seen at the narrow stretch of road leading to New Municipal Bus stand. Here the pedestrians are in a hurry to catch the speeding buses and chances of their falling into these fatal slabs are double. However the Municipal authorities are reluctant to take action. The monsoon is here but neither the PWD nor the Municipal authorities are aware of the pitiable condition of the roads or the slabs along the roadside. “As both the departments busy themselves with collecting taxes and erecting new toll booths to get the maximum amount of money from the public, the public suffer,” Unni says. “We, the hapless voters, have no other option but to remain mute witnesses of all these ‘people-friendly’ activities,” he says.