Kamothe residents dedicate potholes to Cidco officials
The potholes — big and small—were assigned to Cidco officials as per their designation
Fed up of the indifferent attitude exhibited by the City and Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco) officials towards road repair work across Kamothe node, the residents protested in a unique way on Tuesday.
The residents took to the streets and marked potholes on major roads using chalks and distemper. The potholes — big and small—were assigned to Cidco officials as per their designation. The protesters were led by Ekta Samajik Sanstha, a resident’s group.
Amol Shitole, president of Ekta Samajik Sanstha, said, “Roads across Kamothe are in a bad shape since the last monsoon. Cidco officials had promised to fix them before January 25, but nothing happened. Roads in sectors 8, 9, 10, 11, 16, 17, 20, and 21 are the worst. So we decided to protest in a unique way. The biggest potholes were dedicated to Cidco MD and joint MD. The smaller ones are for city engineers, executive engineers and clerks.”
Although Cidco has initiated road repair work in Kamothe, it has covered on a small portion in Sectors 18, 17 and 36.
Sitaram Rokade, superintendent engineer, Cidco, said, “Road repair work is underway in Kamothe and is being done sector-wise. We have fixed major roads going towards the station and connecting the highway. Internal roads will be repaired soon.”
Reena Mallik, 30, a resident of Sector 21, Kamothe, said despite repeated complaints — verbal and written — their pleas have fallen on deaf ears.
“We have highlighted our problems to the officials, who never pay heed, in a unique way. Hope this protest works and roads are repaired at the earliest,” said Dhiren Rana, a resident of Sector 20 and member of the residents’ group.
Although Kamothe node falls under Panvel City Municipal Corporation (PCMC), several civic amenities are still provided and maintained by Cidco. The Cidoc will hand over the node completely to PCMC by May-end.
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A few days ago, a woman and her two children fell off her scooty after hitting a pothole, which was the size of a crater, which she was trying to avoid. Just like the major roads, arterial roads are important as well and Cidco must fix them at the earliest.
Namita Sahay,37, a resident of Sector 10.
“The inner roads are also important and Cidco needs to maintain them avoid any big incident,” said, Sahay.
