Rains expose corruption, poor quality of road construction
Deep trouble: Surat’s roads are a mess
Incessant rains in the city since Monday morning exposed the poor state of road infrastructure, shedding light on alleged corruption within the Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC). The excessive rain caused extensive damage to arterial roadways throughout many municipal zones, exposing subpar construction techniques and questionable dealings among contractors, officials, and the ruling party.
Major road damage was recorded in Rander, Athwalines, Udhana, Katargam, Varachha, Sarthana, and Jahangirpura. The most obvious occurrence was near the SMC’s Narmad Library, when the road caved in almost 20 feet deep. The people could see the drainage water flowing beneath them as the cavity was exposed. This collapse resulted in the closure of three adjoining highways for vehicular traffic for the next four days. The enormous cavity exposed contractors’ poor road building quality and their suspected tight relationship with SMC officials and the ruling BJP.
Many roads in the city were already deteriorating due to constant repairs and patchwork by the drainage and hydraulic department, aggravated by the current Surat Metro rail project. Heavy rainfall and construction activity have weakened the city's infrastructure.
In Jahangirpura, the road to Shikhar Avenue, which was only built two months ago, fell. The 700-meter-long portion of road, which includes the pumping station’s main line, was fully submerged.
The SMC issued a notice to RB Construction, the contractor in charge, stating that a twofold penalty will be applied after the repairs are completed.
Residents and opposition parties have spoken out about the situation, blaming the SMC for failing to assure highquality road construction and upkeep. They believe that frequent road collapses and damage are apparent signs of corruption and incompetence.