Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Road re-laying in Kolar has left residential houses and buildings below the road surface, leading to water stagnation and other problems. Due to multiple rounds of resurfacing, including the recent concrete application without prior removal of the top layer, several houses now sit lower than the road surface. The residents fear water logging in the area during the monsoon.
Construction of a 16km road under the Kolar six lane project is underway in Kolar. The continuous elevation of the road during reconstruction poses a challenge for most buildings in Kolar, particularly with the ongoing six-lane project. When roads are re-laid repeatedly without milling or scrapping the existing road, its height increases and the buildings on either side of the road are at a level below the road. This leads to several problems for the residents.
Don’t know what to do
“While re-laying the roads, milling is not carried out and even where it is done the milling is not as per the requirement. This is mainly due to lack of accountability. The authorities are continuing with increasing the road height and this is causing a lot of problems for residents. We really don’t know what to do. We cannot demolish and rebuild the house.”
Shubham Tiwari, resident Kolar
Road-relaying without planning
“New cement road had been laid without any proper planning. There is no proper outlet for rainwater to drain as storm water drains constructed on the sides of the roads now stand an inch above the road level. Due to the increase in the road level our houses now stand much below the road surface. Because of the multiple resurfacing of the road, we have to take a few steps down to enter our house, which was built 15 years ago.”
Rajesh Dubey, resident
Residents’ complaints justified
“The houses have gone below road level because of repeated resurfacing work on roads in Kolar. We are constructing drains along the road. People have approached with their complaints that are justified and so we are working on it.”
Arvindra Singh, PWD engineer
