Two years indoors: How NH construction stranded an elderly couple in Kozhikode
Drainage problems have trapped a family in their Thiruvangoor home for two years due to a highway construction oversight.
Drainage problems have trapped a family in their Thiruvangoor home for two years due to a highway construction oversight.
Drainage problems have trapped a family in their Thiruvangoor home for two years due to a highway construction oversight.
Thiruvangoor: A construction oversight by the National Highways Authority has left 70-year-old K T Kunhiraman and his wife, Kamala, unable to step out of their home for the past two years.
Kunhiraman and his family, residents of Sree Padmam House in Ward 8 of Chemanchery panchayat, had surrendered a portion of their land for the construction of the national highway. However, the National Highways Authority failed to provide proper access from the service road to their house. As a result, Kunhiraman and his wife are effectively confined indoors, unable to cross an open drainage channel more than two metres deep that runs directly in front of their home.
For hospital visits and other urgent needs, the couple is now forced to reach a neighbouring house and board vehicles from there. Kunhiraman had earlier lodged complaints regarding the issue and, after personally assessing the situation, the Deputy Collector directed the contractor to resolve it at the earliest.
The problem stems from construction flaws. Work remains pending to raise the road to the level of the drain and to widen it by constructing concrete retaining walls on either side. Although a protective wall has been built, the space between the wall and the drain has not been filled with soil, leaving a deep pit that poses a serious safety risk, particularly to two-wheeler riders.