Despite heavy investments in concreting, filling of craters account for significant expenditure
BMC showcasing a demo of M60 concrete for potholes. Pic/Ashish Raje
After awarding contracts to concrete over 1,000 km of roads in the past two years, the BMC has allocated around Rs 275 crore to fill potholes this year. Last year, the corporation filled over 70,000 potholes at a cost of Rs 400 crore. Annually, in addition to spending Rs 2,000 to Rs 2,500 crore on concreting roads, the BMC spends R150 to R200 crore on pothole repairs. In recent years, the cost of filling potholes has also increased.
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Mumbai’s road network spans 2,050 km, with 990 km already concreted by 2022. The BMC had undertaken the concreting of 210 km of the city back in January 2022 and sanctioned a proposal for another 397 km in February 2023, costing Rs 6,080 crore excluding the GST of 18 per cent.
Soon, the tender process for the remaining 397 km is to begin and has been estimated to cost Rs 6,250 crore. But BMC has been able to complete less than 20 per cent of concreting work till now and that's why the corporation is on high alert this season with regard to potholes.
According to a senior BMC official, “The narrow gullies up to 9 m width are with 24 wards while big roads above 9 m are with the central ward department.” The BMC has appointed two contractors in each of the seven zones by allocating around Rs 8 to Rs 12 crore per ward depending upon the size of the ward for filling potholes on big roads. Besides, the wards are allotted around Rs 1 to Rs 2 crore to fill potholes on small lanes.
The BMC has already spent approximately Rs 100 crore on resurfacing damaged road sections before the monsoon to ensure they are monsoon-ready. Additionally, the BMC has awarded contracts for concreting 600 km of roads. Contractors are responsible for the roads under construction or completed for at least five years (Defect Liability Period). In other words, only 400 km of roads remain that are not concreted or not under construction and the responsibility for these lies with the BMC. As per the data given by the BMC it had filled up 52,000 potholes till mid-August 2023. The number increased to around 70,000 by October and the corporation had to spend around Rs 400 crore on the same.
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