Roads in Gujarat melt in ruthless Indian summer; commuters find it tough with sticking shoes, tyres

As the mercury soared in the cities of Surat and Ahmedabad in the western Indian state of Gujarat, commuters found newly laid roads were melting under sweltering heat, so much so that moving on them became challenging.

The maximum temperature in Ahmedabad went past 40-degree Celsius on Monday (10) and Tuesday (11) and the India Meteorological Department has cautioned that things will not change much for the rest of the week.

In Surat, too, growing heat took a toll on a major road as its fresh laid bitumen was found to be melting.

People commuting on two-wheelers were seen riding carefully to avoid accidents while pedestrians complained about their footwear sticking to the road, Times Now reported.

In Ahmedabad, a similar situation happened on a 1.5-kilometre-long road a month ago.

According to Times Now, Surat's civic authorities said stone dust was sprinkled to dry the surface after laying liquid bitumen, yet it turned sticky. They started spraying dust on the road after videos and photographs of the melting road became viral on social media.

The officials also said that treatment of the road was done ahead of monsoon to ensure that it is not damaged. They also refused to accept that there was any negligence on part of the contractor while making the road.