Pandit Karuppan road awaits redemption
Pandit Karuppan was a social reformer who fought against social evils. He was instrumental in voicing his opinion for the downtrodden. Today, a road named after him in Thevara is in shambles. The road is a lifeline for many schools and a college.
Six months ago, the Kerala Water Authority had dug up the road for laying the pipelines with the promise of resurfacing the road on time. Months passed and the condition of the road still continues the same. The usual rhetoric of incessant rains is used as an excuse by the civic authorities.
We spoke to the students and teachers at Sacred Heart College and they have torrid stories to convey. Assistant Professor Sujith Narayanan says, “ It was just a day before Prime Minister spoke on the contribution of Pandit Karuppan at Manorama Conclave, we the citizens are used to toiling hard through the roads, civic authorities should not disrespect the eminent personalities by naming roads after them.”
Joseph K A who mans the gate of the college says, “There’s no one to protest against the condition of the road, the time to protest is long gone, India is a land known for protests, no organizations have come forward to run a campaign, a few random protests haven’t yielded any results. I use a cycle to commute, it has become really hard for me to avoid potholes while cycling to work.”
Students Sunaina Yousef, Sithara Parveen, and Bijohn Benny have similar stories to share. Sithara said once she had to return back to her hostel because her dress got soiled while walking near the potholes filled with sludge. She continues, “If it’s dust during bright days, it’s sludge during the rainy days, it’s becoming a task to reach college these days.” Bijohn says, “Many students, employees use the road on a daily basis, the traffic density during peak time results in blocks and the potholes are added headache to cover.” Sunaina says, “There are local residents who travel to the city for work, they are affected the most with incoming traffic and the bad condition of the roads, they can’t walk nor ride or drive, the buses are almost always full during peak time.”
District Collector S Suhas had inspected the road on June 26th and promised to resurface it in 25 days. It’s been 66 days since he made the promise to the residents of Thevara. Their only query is, “How long will they have to wait.”