The Indian Express 08.08.2013
Pothole menace: PMC to concretise 58 prime roads
As an exception, the two-km stretch of Pune-Mumbai highway at Khadki is pothole-free. Sandeep Daundkar
To get rid of the problem of potholes arising due to monsoon, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) — which drew severe criticism and has even been dragged to court — has chalked out a plan of concretisation of 58 main roads totalling 110 km in the next five years at an estimated cost of Rs 600 crore.
Shaken by the public uproar, the civic road department has prepared a report citing reasons behind the roads developing potholes and its plan to get things in place to ensure a smooth ride on city roads throughout the year. After the potholes surfaced and PMC drew criticism from citizens, Municipal Commissioner Mahesh Pathak had said that concretisation was the only solution. Sources said the commissioner had asked officials to prepare the plan without wasting time.
According to the plan, the PMC would also undertake mastic asphalting at all major junctions. It further said that construction of any new road of the development plan is being done through concretisation after laying service lines.
The administration said potholes were surfacing because of the work undertaken for laying pipeline, drainage and other utility services. Around 70 per cent of potholes are at the place where the service lines were repaired and other places it was due to the absence of stormwater drainage. Many service roads are damaged due to the ongoing work of flyover, bridges and grade separator in various parts of city.
In its report, the road department said the PMC has only 200 km of the 2,200-km concrete roads, while rest are made of tar. The department requires at least Rs 350 crore per year to keep all roads in good condition. However, the budgetary provision is very less and the department could get provision of Rs 70 crore in three years, which is a big gap between the need and actual allocation.
It was also pointed out that 60 per cent of city roads do not have stormwater drainage system and the water collected on these roads causes the damage. There is also lack of coordination between various departments for laying service lines.
The load on city roads has also increased tremendously in the past few years and the unavailability of complete road area for development causes uneven surface on roads with work being completed in patches.
