Kochi Corporation accused of awarding contract to fill potholes despite procuring patching machine

The Opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) has accused the Kochi Corporation of awarding a contract to fill potholes despite having procured a pothole-patching machine under Cochin Smart Mission Limited (CSML), thus causing a sizeable financial burden on the civic body.

Though the machine has been deployed for filling potholes in roads across the city since January, it has not been effective, necessitating the awarding of a contract to complete the work efficiently, the opposition alleged. So far, potholes covering 2,835.89 cubic metres could be filled using the patching machine.

“Though it costs ₹1,200 to fill a cubic metre using the patching machine, the Corporation has tendered the same work for ₹800 per cubic metre. This is in addition to the ₹5 crore that the Corporation will have to pay for the operation and maintenance of the machine over the next five years, at the rate of ₹1 crore per year. Besides, officials concerned have vouched that the machine is ineffective when it comes to filling larger potholes,” M.G. Aristotle, UDF parliamentary party leader in the Corporation, said.

He further alleged that despite the six-month guarantee period provided in the agreement, the potholes filled using the machine had reappeared. The Corporation should have ensured the efficacy of the machine before procuring it, he said.

Mayor M. Anilkumar, however, dismissed the allegations as baseless. “A limit has been fixed for the usage of the machine during a year. But this was exceeded within three to four months, as it was deployed for resurfacing entire stretches rather than filling potholes, which the machine is meant for. That left us with no alternative but to rope in a contractor to undertake pothole-filling work,” he said.

Mr. Anilkumar pointed out that, except for the Stadium Link Road and the Thammanam-Pulleppady Road, all other roads under the Corporation were in a far better state compared to the past, despite sustained rain since May. “The entire stretch of the Stadium Link Road will be resurfaced once the rain subsides. As for the Thammanam-Pulleppady Road, the thoughtless action of digging up the road for laying pipeline works during the monsoon led to its current state. Though it has been handed over to the Public Works department, we will still restore the affected stretch,” he said.