After rains, now comes the dust to haunt motorists

Nagpur: If motorists struggled to negotiate waterlogged roads last week, now it is the swirling pebbled dust and deep potholes that are giving them a hard time on almost all the road stretches. “If the roads are not attended to immediately, we will have to manoeuvre our way with eyes closed on some stretches to protect our eyes from dust particles kicked up from loose gravel,” said motorists. TOI did a reality check and found that in most of the potholed roads, dust particles are now posing threat to motorists, especially two-wheeler riders. From Ring Road between Wathoda and HB Town, Kalamna and Automotive Square and Nari, Surendra Nagar and Ajni Square, Ashok Square to Sakkardara Square, Gomti Hotel road, Wathoda Square and Bhandewadi dumping yard road, all have developed potholes with the gravel and soil spread around them.
NMC has been struggling this season to maintain the road conditions due to shoddy works and the quick fix methodology of filling the potholes has been blamed by most for the present woes. The total road network in the city runs to 3,960.37 square km of which the NMC maintains 2,682.02 square km and the rest is shared by the NIT, public works department and the NHAI. Similarly, NIT owns 1,124.48 sq km, NHAI 43.60 sq km and PWD 10.27 sq km (49 roads) in the city.
The long stretch, which leads towards the Gomti Hotel Square from Kalamna Market has left motorists fuming. Everyday travelling through the road results in a bumpy ride, coupled with dust flying straight into eyes of bikers, thanks to the loose gravels. If the potholes that have been increasing in numbers with every spell of rain give a bone-rattling driving experience, the gravel and soil from the filled potholes only add to the problem.
“The stretch remains dusty and all two-wheeler riders have to be extra cautious while using this road or else they risk hurting their eyes,” complained motorists.
Manoj Nagre, who runs a panshop on Ring Road, stated he has seen a few vehicles skidding and colliding.
“There is no road actually. It is only sand and stones spread on the road. Even if one drives slowly, there is every possibility that the two-wheeler skids,” he pointed out. The situation at the road, which is dug up completely on one side, has also resulted in traffic slowing down constantly.
“Driving through the gravel is very dangerous. My bike skidded and I fell twice in two days close to Raj Bhavan office in Sadar area,” said Satish Kumar, a resident of Friends Colony, adding, “Dust from the roads has come to trouble the four-wheeler drivers also and along many stretches one could see motorists squinting their way out to avoid it.
Municipal commissioner Shravan Hardikar was not available for comments