The Indian Express          09.11.2013 

PMC mulls PPP mode to lay concrete on 33 roads

The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), which complains of inadequate
funds to construct roads on one hand and faces criticism for damaged
roads during monsoon on the other, is now exploring public-private
partnership to concretise city roads. Suggesting deferred payment of Rs
247.9 crore, the civic body plans to concretise 33 roads in first phase.

In the proposal tabled for discussion at the coordination
committee meeting, the civic administration said it had to face severe
criticism due to the large number of potholes emerging during monsoon.
The PMC has completed around 90 per cent of the repair work till now.

Stating that the concrete roads constructed in the last few years
and in 1997 did not develop potholes and were in a better condition,
the PMC said while the tarred roads had a life span of four years,
waterlogging or continuous rain could damage them even before that.

It is not possible to repair these roads during monsoon and they
can be easily dug to lay service lines as against the concrete roads.
Officials said the increase in traffic too had an adverse effect on the
tar roads.

“In comparison to tar roads, concrete roads are beneficial as
they have a life span of 15 years. They don’t get damaged due to rain
and digging these roads is very difficult. Thus, there is need to
concretise the tar roads and reduce the cost on maintenance. The PMC
should take up concretisation work on the existing tar roads as the same
method has yielded good results for Paud and Ganeshkhind roads,”
Additional City Engineer Pramod Nirbhavane said in the proposal.

He clarified that the construction cost of concrete roads was
two-and-a-half times that of tar roads, but their life span was also
four to five times more. The construction cost of tar roads is Rs 1,200
per sq m while that of concrete roads is Rs 2,500 per sq m.

“It is necessary to undertake the concretisation of select tar roads
immediately as their defect liability period has got over. The entire
cost would be Rs 600 crore while the civic budgetary allocation for road
development is Rs 25 crore for the financial year. Hence, the
concretisation of 33 of the select 60 roads should be taken up with
immediate effect following deferred payment method,” said Nirbhavane.

The remaining roads will be taken up in the second phase. “The
planned first phase (33 roads) will cost Rs 247.9 crore, which can be
paid in installments of Rs 50 crore every year for the next few years,”
said the proposal. The civic body demanded that they should be allowed
to appoint a consultant for the project and implement it in deferred
payment mode with an assurance of Rs 50-crore budgetary allocation for
the next five years from 2014-15.