Corporation to conduct inspections to check illegal road digging

Kozhikode: Corporation authorities have decided to take strict actions against those found digging roads, to lay cable lines, without prior permission from the authorities. Corporation superintendent engineer has directed all the engineering staff to conduct site inspections to check for illegal road digging works in its limits.
The corporation has decided to act on the basis of the information from councillors about the rampant digging of roads in the corporation limits without permission. The chances of accidents are likely to increase with the onset of monsoon and with road digging activities carried out without proper warning boards. The corporation engineer has issued a directive to all eleven engineering circles to conduct inspections to restrict the malpractice, by just erecting a 'road works at progress' board.
The move is intended to avoid mishaps as many roads will submerge with the onset of monsoon. The civic body has been receiving complaints of damage of telephone lines and Kerala Water Authority (KWA) pipelines following the road digging works and a committee with district collector as the chairman had been formed six months ago to accord sanction to the road digging works on the basis of the same. The other members in the committee include, officials of KSEB, KWA, PWD, and National Highway Authority of India.
According to the corporation office, it has stopped the digging up of two roads in its limit after an inquiry by the corporation engineers found that it was carried out without obtaining prior permission from the civic body. Both the works were stalled within a month on the basis of a complaint received by the mayor.
Corporation superintending engineer K A Suli said that the applications seeking permission for road digging works are forwarded to the district level committee headed by the collector.
"The approval is given on the basis of the direction received from the committee," he said. "The engineering staff inspecting the road digging works will make sure that the caution board is also erected in addition to the sanction from the corporation.
Action will be taken against under the Kerala Municipality Act against not complying with the rules," added Suli.