It’s a story we are tired of reporting year after tiresome year — how crores of our hard-earned money are spent with nonchalance and no accountability, with absolutely awful results. Our bureaucratic masters seem to churn out one ambitious plan after another, from more sea bridges to skywalks nobody uses, to longer flyovers. What they can’t seem to give us is a road that functions the way it is supposed to.

Consider the Eastern and Western Express Highways, for instance. The Public Works Department allegedly repairs these arterial roads between March and May every year. This year, they spent approximately Rs 40 lakh on each highway for that purpose alone. One mildly heavy shower later, the shoddy nature of the work that was carried out has been exposed.