Gravel roads of Sri City zone take a beating

Even a light shower turns the roads into slippery slopes of mud, say locals

Though the national and state highways and rural roads remained largely untouched by the recent rains, the internal roads in several villages of Varadaiahpalem mandal of Sri City Industrial Zone received a severe beating thanks to a series of downpours since August.

Internal roads in the villages of Nellatur, Chennavaripalem, Thondur and CLN Palle of Varadaiahpalem are in a bad shape ever since the monsoon arrived in the district. These villages are only partially covered by the cement roads, while a majority of the roads, which are predominantly used by the rural public, have been laid using gravel.

At Nellatur, a light shower is enough to turn the roads into muddy stretches, making it difficult for locals even to walk on the roads. Auto-rickshaws and four-wheelers get stuck in the soft mud, and schoolchildren have to wade through ankle-deep mud to go to school. At BC Colony in Battalavallam panchayat, the approach road has turned dangerous with potholes filled with stagnant water. School kids on bicycles and those on two-wheelers often face mishaps when they ride over ditches filled with water.

The villages of Chennavaripalem and Thondur, despite their proximity to Sri City, are home to several unpaved roads, which turn muddy when the rains come.

Villagers at Nellatur alleged that they had made repeated appeals to the panchayat officials in the last few months but there was no response. "As there had been no rains in the last three years, the thought of making repairs to our roads or to bring them under the ambit of cement roads did not occur to us. Now, we are suffering," said Kannaiah, a 30-year-old auto-rickshaw driver.

The rural road from Nagalapuram to Rajulakandriga also bore the brunt of recent rains. The road repair works on the Tirupati-Chennai National Highway passing through Uttukottai (TN) was affected for a couple of weeks due to the rains.

Executive Engineer (Roads and Buildings) and Superintending Engineer (Panchayat Raj) of Chittoor district told The Hindu that though the district received rains in recent months, all the roads under their jurisdiction remained safe with no reports any damage anywhere.

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