MCD proposes to import more pothole repair machines from UK

A hole-some approach

MCD proposes to import more pothole repair machines from UK

Harried Delhiites have something to cheer on the Commonwealth Games.
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has proposed to import more pothole repairing machines from UK, after two of them have helped the civic agency in dealing with the havoc caused by incessant rains in the national capital.

The machines - imported in the wake of Commonwealth Games - have helped the MCD to repair numerous potholes across the city in no time and using lesser material.
The machines were imported from Britain at a cost of Rs 1.10 crore in the month of June. It was claimed that each one of them can repair 16 patches of 2mX1m in just 8 hours. But their performance has exceeded expectations.

According to officials, the machines are actually managing 20 patches of the same dimension in 8 hours. Subhash Arya, leader of the house, confirmed that the MCD was planning to get more machines in the near future.

"I saw this machine in Austria eight years ago and it took me nearly the same time to get it approved and bring it to India. In a few days I am planning to float the proposal to import more such machines. It's high time that we make optimum use of new technologies give up primitive methods of managing roads," he said.u00a0
Many officials have also given a thumbs-up to the technology and termed it a major breakthrough in the public works sector.

The machine has an infra-red hot plate which covers the pothole and heats up the road surface in 8-10 minutes. After that, the existing road material is dug up and bitumen and new mix is added to the material, which is laid over the patch. This machine, therefore, makes use of recycled material. It is for the first time that technology using infrared rays giving the surface treatment of 200 degree Celsius is being used.

FIXING THE ROT
At least 25 incidents of road cave-ins have occurred here in the past fortnight and dozens of other roads are in a dilapidated state.
Heavy rains, poor road engineering and maintenance by civic agencies and heavy vehicle traffic due to Commonwealth Games construction are making Delhi's roads crumble, creating huge craters in places and peeling away tar from re-laid pathways. In the past week alone.