Contractors slam traffic police for new approval system in Coimbatore:
Construction contractors have flayed the centralized approval system that the city traffic police have introduced for carrying out repair works of drinking water and underground drainage pipelines on the city roads, stating the same was causing delays in addressing leakages.
A few days ago, one of the contractors said, there was a breach in the main drinking water supplying channel on Cross-Cut Road at Gandhipuram. “We could carry out the repair work only three days after identifying the issue, as there was a delay in getting permission from the traffic police. Because of the delay, the entire area was flooded with water, creating inconvenience to commuters.”
He said earlier only oral permission from the traffic police was required to carry out such repair works. “So, it was easy to attend to the leakage issues without wasting any time. Now that the approval system is centralized, we have to write to the traffic deputy commissioner, seeking permission. It takes time.” Another contractor confirmed that the new approval system was delaying repair works.
When contacted, S R Senthil Kumar, city deputy traffic commissioner of police, said there was no delay on their part in granting permission. “We give nod in a day or two. If there is urgent work to be carried out, city corporation officials will talk to us directly and the permission will be granted instantly.”
He said the new approval system that they had introduced was in place in Chennai for years. Senthil Kumar said there was a lot of confusion earlier, as there was no proper system to grant approvals for taking out repair works of water supply and drainage pipelines on the city roads.
“It was like contractors would dig up roads and leave it such as for a long time. They would also erect barricades and block roads, causing traffic congestion. The new system will allow us to plan and ensure diversions without causing traffic snarls.”
Either traffic police or the contractor’s view is correct, any kind of pre-planned work would never cause any difficulty.
Meena
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