Mumbai pothole menace: Lack of funds, cold mix lead to delay in road repair work

If you are wondering why the BMC is not filling up potholes it is because the civic body has not only already used up all of its cold mix in August but also surpassed the funds allotted for the same Some ward officials also claimed that they are applying for additional funds In addition BMC did not receive any response from contractors for repairing the roads using new techniques In the absence of its own cold mix wards are depending on contractors appointed by the BMC for repairsBefore every monsoon the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation starts preparations to repair potholes during rains and produces cold mix in its Worli plant This mix is then distributed to its 24 wards In addition the civic body which divides the 24 wards into 7 zones allots separate budgets for each zone and appoints contractors to take on the road repair workBMCrsquos cold mixWhile the Worli plant produced around 2150 metric tonnes of cold mix this year the demand from all the wards was around 3000 metric tonnes The BMC had distributed 1500 metric tonnes of cold mix before June and had kept the remaining in reserve The reserve too was put to use by AugustA BMC employee said that they used the cold mix to fill potholes after receiving complaints but ldquoit is not of much use as the mix comes out in a few days due to the rainrdquoAlso read Need to end the pothole menace once and for allHuge potholes cover the road near Pratiksha Nagar bus depot PicAtul KambleldquoCold mix cannot be produced during the rainy season due to high levels of moisture in the air So it is prepared in the dry months and stored The cold mix was distributed before June and even the mix which was kept in storage ended in Augustrdquo said a BMC official on the condition of anonymityThis means since August BMC staffers have not been able to fill any potholes and are completely dependent on contractorsldquoWhen we asked for cold mix we were told to get the contractors to fill up the potholes instead But even private contractors are facing issues in getting the material owing to the season As rains have not subsided yet it has also led to worsening of roadsrdquo said another BMC officialContractorsThis year BMC had appointed contractors and allocated Rs 6 crore for each of the seven zones to repair the roads during monsoon Several zones have already overshot the budget even as three weeks of monsoon is still remainingIn addition the civic body had floated additional tenders in July for using new techniques such as rapid hardening concrete and geopolymer solution at a cost of Rs 7 crore However all of the three new methods which were tried proved to be unsuccessful and the civic body did not get responses to the tenders which stated that the contractor would get 50 per cent of the payment only after the defect liability period of 15 yearslsquoNeed more fundsrsquoA BMC ward official said they have now started applying for additional budgets ldquoPotholeridden roads make life miserable for commuters We understand the issues faced by the citizens but we need a few sunny days to complete the taskrdquo said the officialOf the 2050km road network in the city around 990 km are cement concrete and the rest are asphalt roads The BMC has already passed the works of converting 236 km of asphalt roads into cement concrete and tenders for another 400 km have been floated ldquoThough the roads are selected for conversion into cement concrete and some of the roads will be taken for resurfacing we have to take care of them till the work order is issued Till then it is BMCrsquos duty to make these free of potholesrdquo a ward official saidAdditional Municipal Commissioner P Velarasu remained unavailable for a comment Ulhas Mahale deputy municipal commissioner of infrastructure said that they havenrsquot received any specific request from ward levels and need to take details from each ward about the cold mix consumption and allocation of budget for contractors3000 mtQuantity of cold mix wards asked for from BMC2150 mtQuantity of cold mix BMC distributed this yearAugustMonth when the 2150 MT of cold mix got overThreeNo of weeks before the rainy season in Mumbai endsRs 6 crFund allotted to each of the 7 zones in city for contractors