Road constructed over damaged drainage system has residents fuming

A stretch of road constructed hurriedly by the Thimbirigasyaya Divisional Secretariat ( TDS) has residents of Andarawatte Road complaining the road has been constructed without attending to a longstanding drainage problem in the road.

The residents point out the dilapidated drainage system has waste water seeping out onto the newly constructed stretch, worsening the situation. Repeated reminders to the Colombo Municipal Council ( CMC) in the past years has not yielded results.

The stretch was constructed last month under the Ministry of National Policies & Economic Affairs, which had directed the dilapidated road be paved.

A board displayed at the site states the cost of construction as Rs 321,794. The road construction work took 3 weeks, from Nov.21-Dec.15, 2017. The TDS, however, said the decision to pave the road was made after consulting with the CMC. Divisional Secretary Mrs Priyantha Dissanayake said all roads in the Colombo District were constructed in consultation with and approval from the CMC.

“The CMC made no objection to the the proposal to pave the stretch in question," she said.

CMC Chief District Engineer, Kirulapone, under whose purview the area comes, said they had no hand in the matter, as the decision to pave the road was made by the Ministry.

"The work on the damaged drainage system is in the pipeline and we have no hand in the matter," Engineer Kumudu Lal said.