Unfortunately nobody seems to care for the public. A year ago a woman from Diwar died after an accident on this causeway, due to the neglect of those who should have maintained it. And now another tragedy may take place at any time and precious lives may be lost.
Wide visible cracks are recently noticed on the surface of the causeway at several places on the Merces side of the same. The repeated asphalting of the causeway over the years would have resulted in 12-15 inches of thickness over the original structure. Despite this thickness of asphalt, formation of cracks is evident. Could this be because of the weight of the asphalt? This is a constant dead load over the ageing structure.
Has the PWD ever tried to find out the real causes of disintegration of the causeway? The measures so far taken may amount to only a patch work solution.
If one goes into the depths of the disintegration one will observe that the main culprits are the plants/ trees/ mangroves whose roots have penetrated deeply into the joints of the arched walls of the causeway. They are more on the Merces side. And the cracks are also seen more on this side. I and many other senior citizens of my age will testify that there were no plants / trees / mangroves seen along both the sides of the causeway in the past. The writer is in possession of pictures of the causeway of period before 1965 which proves this.
The plants / trees / mangroves have grown only after 1965 when people stopped cultivating the paddy fields in the kazhan lands adjoining the causeway. Nobody in the PWD cared to do timely maintenance of the causeway and that is why today we are paying for the faults and culpable neglect of those in power at various times. Now crores will be spent from the tax payers money (as they say – whose father, what goes?) to repair the same or build a new concrete causeway all along the stretch.
The river side of the causeway is largely free from these cracks because it is mostly free of mangroves. In some sections where the mangroves are seen the roots have not yet penetrated into the stone walls. Before it is too late to salvage the causeway the government has to urgently adopt some measures to protect it like clearing the structure of the causeway and its adjoining areas all its length.
