The BMC to continue 508 roads with pothole filling mixture for this Monsoon.

By Abhay Harish Shah, Realty Quarter

The pothole is a most discussed issue in the monsoon season. In Mumbai, people face a lot of difficulties while commuting from one place to another. BMC is working hard to make Mumbai monsoon travel a safer one. The BMC has already distributed 828 metric tonnes but still works on 508 roads, of its ‘ cold mix ‘ pothole filling mixture on the wards by sending mixed signals on monsoon preparation.

Arun Nadgoudar, (BMC chief engineer for road department) said, “We are planning to produce 1200MT of the cold mix by 31 May, and we gave wards the inventory ahead of time so that it could be stored in the ward and used when required. Meanwhile, Last year, we had required 813 MT of cold mix.”

In the recent years, the BMC has blown hot and cold and decided that the cold mix “home-made” not only works better but is also the most economical solution to cover the cavernous openings which dot the town’s highways during monsoons. While the civic authorities might be patting themselves on their backs for their ‘foresight’ and ‘planning’, the taxpayer has a few questions: Why can’t the roads be built to last? Why can’t repair and maintenance be done with stringent quality norms? Why does Greater Mumbai have to be Crater Mumbai?

It is the “home-made” cold mix of the civic body that is made from a patented German mixture. Previously, the BMC had imported Rs 170 per kg cold mix from Austria and Israel. It now produces the same for Rs 28 per kg.

Following last year’s flak over poor pothole repair because of the absence of a water-resistant cold mix during the worst rains, the city officials started shipping the mix a fortnight before the rains are expected.

But the activists were sneering, saying if the roads were of superior quality, no potholes and no mix were needed to fill. “Whenever a pothole is seen during the rains, it is filled and there are new potholes on the same road that appear at new spots in the next heavy spell. It would not be a problem if good roads were built,” said G. R. Vora, from Sion.

Rais Shaikh (Samajwadi Party Corporator), said that his ward had been dug for trenching. “This caused deterioration in road quality, and potholes appear once the rain starts.”

The BMC’s record of the road works is still unsatisfactory, with work still being carried out on 508 roads. “A lot of work is underway on the 508 roads. If they are not done until the monsoon they will stop and restart after the monsoon,” said Nadgoudar.