Indian Express 03.06.2010
From Rs 4 cr to Rs 68 cr, civic body hikes maintenance cost of jet-patching machines
Express News Service Tags : jet-patching machines, mumbai Posted: Thu Jun 03 2010, 23:35 hrs
Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s standing committee on Wednesday passed a proposal to increase the operation and maintenance costs of its three jet-patching machines from Rs 4 crore to Rs 68 crore, up by 17 times. Despite dissenting murmurs from a few corporators, the proposal was hurriedly passed without any debate. Three imported jet-patching machines were purchased by the BMC in 2008 for filling potholes on roads during monsoon.Though Mumbai received poor monsoon last year, the BMC had footed a bill of Rs 4 crore for the operation and maintenance of the three machines; one each for the city, eastern and western suburbs. However, a proposal to increase the amount to Rs 68 crore was brought up and passed by the standing committee. The civic administration has already spent this amount and had now asked the committee to approve and release the funds.
Asked about the reasons for the high cost escalation, committee chairman Rahul Shewale said instead of single patching, double patching was used. “Besides that, these machines were used for all ward level works too, though it was proposed to use them only on major roads,” said Shewale.
The machine replaces the process of manual filling and pressing works. It uses asphalt instead of a cold mix. The machine automatically cleans and fills the potholes with the material. Compressed air is used for cleaning the potholes and filling them.
Despite the claims of the administration on the increased scope of work leading to rise in costs, road officials on condition of anonymity said the jet-patching machines were not used on a large extent during the last monsoon. “These machines are not suited for smaller lanes and smaller roads. They can only be used on bigger roads,” said an official.
