Team Herald
PONDA: Since 2016, the Shignevhaal and Kumbharwada roads in Bethora Village Panchayat have not been hot-mixed despite being widened at the cost of lakhs of rupees.
Dudhsagar River, which is closeby to the village, attracts a large number of visitors and motorists have to endure potholes while travelling along the route.
The increasing number of vehicles is also turning out to be a headache for the locals as they have to battle bad roads along with the congestion.
Widening work of the road from Gananath Devasthan to Shignevhaal and Kumbharwada began in 2016 and the contract also included hot-mixing of same. During widening, the dangerous curves in the village were also minimised. Hence, though the road is wide enough it is full of potholes.
Since swimming has been banned at Kodar, the people are crowding at Nirankal. The locals have also said that tourists leave the broken alcohol bottles on the shores of the river which has injured many villagers.
“The tender of widening and hot-mixing the road was passed together. However, the contractor has done only half the work. It is important for the safety of villagers from both the villages,” said former panch Premanand Shetkar.
“Taking into consideration the inconvenience locals have to face, the panchayat has been following up with the PWD to hot-mix the road,” said Panch Geeta Gaonkar.
