Rains leave a mark: Key link from NH-9 dotted with craters in Ghaziabad

GHAZIABAD: Driving through the city has become a risky affair for commuters after the rains continued to pound the city the last three days. Among the stretches that were worst affected was the Siddharth Vihar road, which is used by commuters while coming back from NH-9.
“The rains, coupled with construction activity, have made this entire stretch so bad that we cannot take a walk without the vehicles driving through the potholes splashing water on us.It has become a rainy thing so potholes and rain go hand in hand,” said NK Negi, a resident of Sidharth Vihar.
Residents said that every year during the monsoon season, the condition of the city’s roads worsens, leading to traffic congestion. Officials also do not make any efforts to repair the damage, residents added.
“The condition was bad before but now it is worse. Most of the stretches are either pothole-ridden or filled with rainwater. Now, it takes 20 minutes for me to reach the main road. It’s quite surprising that newly-laid roads are also unable to withstand the rain. There should be a financial and social audit,” said Viplove, another resident of the area. The recent showers have exposed the poor-quality roads laid by the authorities as well as private contractors, residents said. Roads in several areas, including the internal roads, are severely damaged, causing inconvenience to the commuters, they added.
“Roads have become worse after getting washed away in the recent heavy rain. Most of the city’s roads are damaged and filled with potholes,” said another resident, Mohit Sharma.
Several residents even took to social media platform X to express their grievances, and highlight the poorquality of the roads by posting images and videos of the damaged stretches. Meanwhile, officials from the Awas Vikas Parishad did not respond to TOI’s calls for a comment.