Intact roads must be well-lit, free of encroachments

Representation pic

Even the most stoic will have to concede that we are at an extremely precarious juncture when it comes to roads. Practically every road is dug up in the island city - and this is not an exaggeration.

While the dug-up roads have been the focus of much news, this edit highlights that it is not just excavated roads that are the problem. Pedestrians find that even the little slivers of pavement and roads left for them to negotiate have been usurped in different ways.

First, the excavated debris, mud or soil - call it what you will - is often lying in mounds on the ‘good' or not dug-up parts, rendering even these hard to walk on or access. People have to climb mini hills or sink their feet into this soil to continue walking and reach their destination.

At other times, these dug-up roads become garbage bins. Often, people are the culprits as actual dustbins may have been removed or moved. Since few people are walking here anyway, people think it is all right to chuck rubbish into these spots and walk away. This happens at night too, when work has stopped and the roads or dug-up patches are empty.

Then, of course, we have planks or some kind of makeshift trail for people to walk on to cross trenches.

This creates a significant problem and can be very intimidating as one needs to keep one's balance. It is inevitable at times to wonder whether these temporary walkways will hold up, even if they do most of the time.

The overarching point is that with roads already excavated, the few patches that exist should be well-lit, clean, accessible and possess signage. Dark spots and rubbish heaps, including debris mounds, exacerbate an already trying situation.