Two commuters fell into rain-hidden potholes on the same Coimbatore road in quick succession. Commuters say temporary patches are not working, and the roads were bad even before the rain.

In the first incident, a commuter fell into a pothole after losing his balance while travelling on the wet road.

Not long before the whole scene faded from memory, another commuter met with the same fate on the same road.

Two falls are a small sample, but they point to a familiar risk: once water pools over broken tarmac, a pothole can look like the road around it, and a two-wheeler rider gets little warning before the wheel drops in.

“The roads in Coimbatore are pathetic, and during rain potholes make it difficult for commuters to drive safely,” a corporate employee Jananithish told The Public Brief.

Veerakeralam area has turned so muddy that buses have been getting stuck on Marudhamalai Road.

“Why spend money on repairing the roads if it makes them completely useless once there is some rain? The government should put a stop to the temporary repairs and make sure that proper repairs are done,” Vaishnavi, a college commuter, said.

She added that people pay taxes for good infrastructure but should not risk accidents or longer routes because the roads are in such a terrible condition.

October 21, heavy rain has worsened roads across the city, especially where stretches were dug up for underground drainage and water supply projects.

Officials say regular resurfacing cannot be done in wet weather, so crews are using wet mix, a stopgap material, to patch the worst spots, NewsBytes reports.

The city has also set aside Rs 10 lakh per zone for rain relief measures, it added.

“Gandhipuram received quick repairs ahead of a chief minister visit, but why were our roads not given the same priority,” said Kalidas, a gig worker.

Roads in Coimbatore are worst even on days when there is no rain, he added.

“Small potholes are very common around the city, and roads remain untended even after repair work is done. It becomes tough to commute on such roads,” Kalidas told The Public Brief.

A road’s drainage system is integral to keeping it in good condition, and that patchwork laid without proper binding agents will only be a temporary fix, Ratnakara Reddy K B, urban transport expert, told Deccan Herald.

His comments were about Indian cities generally, not Coimbatore specifically, but they describe a cycle familiar to commuters in many Indian cities about repair, rain, and damage.

What remains unanswered

It remains to be seen whether these potholes have already been reported to the Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation, or how long the potholes have existed.

When a pothole is filled with water due to rain, it becomes a risk for anyone passing by, as it cannot be seen.

But the damage is caused to the person who comes across the pothole, not the organisation that failed to repair it.

The Corporation should come up with answers to the following questions:

  • How many stretches of road are there that are damaged by rain?
  • How many of these stretches have been temporarily fixed already?
  • When will the Corporation commence resurfacing of the roads?