The Hindu 07.09.2016
Corporation procures sand-sweeping machines
The sleek hand-held machines will be highly productive as they can
be operated even in small lanes, on paver stones and on bridges
MORE TO BE PURCHASED:Corporation Commissioner Sandeep Nanduri (right)
and Mayor(in-charge) K. Thiraviam at the launch of sand-sweeping
machines in Madurai.— Photo: R. Ashok
There is some good news for the citizens of Temple City.
The Corporation of Madurai has procured modern gadgets with which sand
accumulated on roadsides can be removed precisely and swiftly.
The
sleek hand-held machines will be highly productive as it can be
operated even in small lanes, paver stones and on bridges (where, the
worker can remove sand and other particles on the holes meant for
rainwater drain) without being a hindrance to vehicular movement.
The
Corporation had procured five such units at a cost of Rs 2.40 lakh.
Initially, each zone (there are four zones) would get one unit and in a
phased manner, more numbers would be purchased depending on the
requirement, said Mayor (in-charge) K. Thiraviam.
Out
of the 100 wards in the city, at least 50 per cent of them had
complaints of sand accumulation on the roads, which polluted the
stretches, especially, after rain.
Now that the
sand-sweeping machines were in place, we would start removing them and
try to give a cleaner city, said Commissioner Sandeep Nanduri and added
that the new machines could be operated at a stretch, say for instance,
for about a kilometre distance and the gadget could collect 37 litres of
sand at a time.
The Corporation, an engineer
in-charge of road maintenance, said that apart from main thoroughfares
like Kalavasal and Arasaradi, Muthu bridge and among other roads and
bylanes had been identified, where sand accumulation was high.
Though
there were several reasons attributed to sand accumulation on
roadsides, the engineer claimed that paver finish roads should be laid
as they would not give room for sand accumulation.
“Road
contractors should lay the bitumen from end to end as the black topping
would not give space for any dust. Likewise, whenever a road is laid,
no agency shall dig the stretch as it will not only lead to debris
accumulation, but the even surface will get spoiled.
After
spending over Rs.55 lakh on laying new road two months ago, where the
Regional Passport Office (near lotus tank) is situated, the road has
been dug now after sewage complaints.
Yet another
stretch, which has always been under repair, is the Old Natham Road. Due
to bad road, carriage space had shrunk. The residents complained that
the Underground Drainage System was not properly maintained and sewage
flowed freely on the road.
When it dried up, the
sewage got mixed up with sand and was never removed. This caused
unpleasant smell and also posed a threat to road-users as the stretch
turned as mosquito-breeding centre.
Most importantly,
sand-laden trucks should be penalised or impounded whenever they
transported sand without covering them with tarpaulin sheets.
The
Teppakulam-Kamarajar Salai was a classic example where sand accumulated
on roadsides had resulted in freak accidents on many occasions.
With
the sand-sweeping machines in place, the councillors, cutting across
party lines, said that the officials should not just confine to cleaning
only arterial intersections, but also clean up residential locations.
There
are 100 wards and five machines may not be sufficient to clean the
city. But it was a good beginning and good news in the right direction,
they hailed.