Poor Quality Tar Roads Fail Rain Test, Potholes Trigger Accidents

Nagpur: Even as the onset of monsoon has provided relief by bringing down the temperatures, it exposed the lack of maintenance of tar roads across the city as potholes have started emerging almost on every stretch.
The roads at the Mor Bhavan Bus stop have developed crater-sized potholes, which continue to grow in size with each passing day.


Moreover, many roads that were excavated for installation of utility services have developed potholes, indicating subpar patchwork across the city.
The road near the everbustling Panchsheel Square is the best example of how the restoration job done after undertaking works for utility services is unable to withstand the load of vehicular traffic and rain.
The problem is aggravated after rains lead to formation of puddles in the potholes. “These water-filled potholes are causing accidents as motorists aren’t able to differentiate between a levelled road and uneven surface,” said traffic cops deployed across the city.
Citing pathetic condition of a stretch on Rajiv Gandhi Nagar railway crossing, Narendra Pore, said he wondered how to find the road amid potholes or evade potholes and drive on whatever is left of “what-was-once-a-road”.
To address complaints regarding potholes within 24 hours, Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) has engaged Insta and Jet Patcher machines for three months to repair potholes on asphalted roads. For this purpose, NMC will pay the two firms which have deployed the machines 75 lakh each.
The civic body had engaged the firms for 3 crore annual contract. However, following a significant development in the hot mix department’s operations, municipal commissioner Abhijeet Chaudhari had decided not to extend the contracts after March this year.
Chaudhari had also allocated 20 lakh to each of the 10 NMC zone offices to facilitate repairs of asphalted roads. However, unsatisfactory performance at zone levels led to increase in complaints pertaining to potholes, prompting the civic chief to engage both firms for an additional three-month period.
An official from NMC’s public works department said that the civic body’s hot mix plant remains closed for almost three months during the monsoon season.
However, the plant may contribute to fixing potholes, if needed. The hot mix department has been asked to take the status of tar roads with less than 12-metre width from every zonal office. Once the department receives the data, both machines Insta and Jet Patcher will start functioning.