ALLAHABAD: Roads dotted with craters and potholes are burning holes in the pockets of commuters especially four-wheeler owners in the city.Commuters at Lukerganj, SP Marg, Stanley Road, Sohbatiyabagh, CMP Road etc are worst affected as roads are damaged.Owners alleged that development projects ahead of Kumbh are creating problems for locals. "Construction material lying alongside the roads, ongoing repair work of damaged roads add to commuters woes. This should be taken care of immediately," said a local businessman.A teacher Ashutosh Awasthi living in Lukerganj said: The aftermath of beautification and renovation work is that the maintenance charges for cars or SUVs have doubled in the past two and half months since the vehicles are often developing both technical and mechanical snags.Pankaj Mehrotra, a city based businessman says "Having frequent bumpy rides between SP Marg and Civil Lines twice in a day, he had spent double amount on car maintenance in past two months compared to previous months'. He added "patchwork being taken by development agency are not enough as potholed roads often damage clutch plates, suspension, break-shoes and wheel balancing".Manish, another commuter said " Traveling by car seems to be turning a nightmare for owners as we apart from facing frequent jams, are spending more on vehicle maintenance'. He claimed " I had spent Rs 12,000 in the past two months after break shoes of my car got damaged twice". Traveling between Rajapur road towards civil Lines, Manish claimed that suspension of his car got out of order at least three times and further demanded development agencies to construct the main streets at the earliest.Sanjay Kumar, an owner of a garage admitted that over 40% of vehicles develop snags regularly due to the crater and pothole-filled roads. In past two months, around 300 cars were being brought for maintenance due to bad road conditions." I had spent enough money on my SUV maintenance as it development snag in suspensions" said Vinay adding " failing to cope up with ever increasing cost on maintenance, I have now opted for two wheeler since the roads are built" he added."Insurance can be claimed only when cars suffer damages in accidents. The cost of repairing luxury cars is spiralling up, but we cannot insure their damages. Despite holding insurance policies, car owners have to shell out money for repairs," admitted an insurance agent.On being contacted, a senior ADA official said "the construction work of roads have started and would be completed in stipulated time". He added that road construction work has started on Stanley road, Nawab Yusuf road etc.

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