S Joshi, chief engineer of the BMC’s Road Department, said they had asked ward engineers to carry out an extensive survey of bad patches across the city. “We have concentrated on pothole-prone areas and even earmarked a Rs 33 crore budget. Civic officials will trace the contractors and supervise work on bad roads. Contractors are supposed to attend to pothole complaints within 24 hours. If they fail to do so, we will fine them Rs 200 per day, and deduct the total amount from their dues,” said Joshi.
According to the civic official, potholes generally occur at junctions, signals, major corridors and heavy bus routes. “To speed up pothole repair work, the BMC has bought three jet-patching machines from the USA for the island city, western and eastern suburbs. Once it is filled with the patching mix, the machine automatically cleans and fills potholes, using compressed air to do the job. The machine has a capacity of around eight cubic metre of the mixture. The cost of the machine is Rs 78 lakh,” said a civic official.
The contractors can also use carboncor, paver blocks, asphalt, concrete and matrix asphalt to repair bad patches and potholes. According to a report compiled by the civic agency, Khar, Bandra, Borivli, Kurla and Chembur, M N Road, Kajupada Road, Kurla-Kalina Road, Marwe Estate Road, Nahar Road, M G Road and Station Road in Ghatkopar are the worst-affected areas. “We will take precautions so that motorists do not face a problem due to bad patches,” said Joshi.
Last year, the BMC had received flak for poor implementation of carbon core technology to fill potholes. Imported from South Africa, the technique was a total disaster with potholes re-emerging within days of being filled. According to civic observers, the civic body’s plan was sabotaged by a nexus of contractors and civic officials.
• To speed up pothole repair work, the BMC has bought three jet-patching machines from the USA for the city – a civic official