In recent years, Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) has been aggressively swapping old tar roads with concrete across the length and breadth of the city. This massive multi-crore infrastructural overhaul was portrayed as a permanent solution to the perennial menace of potholes. However, a bizarre and troubling development has surfaced -- despite spending crores on these premium concrete networks, the civic body is now using bitumen, the exact material used for old tar roads, to cover up potholes and cracks developing on these brand-new cement surfaces. This paradoxical approach raises a fundamental question: why push citizens into a multi-crore, long-term construction crisis if the end fix relies on the exact same old methods?The irony of this infrastructure mismatch is currently on full display during the NMC’s annual maintenance operations.

 

The Hot Mix Plant Department of the civic body launched an aggressive pre-monsoon pothole repair drive running from May 20 to June 5. The department is actively patching up fractured road networks to make them navigable before heavy monsoon rains hit the city. However, when questioned about the strategy for repairing the fracturing cement roads, an official from the Hot Mix Plant Department admitted that the current drive is solely dedicated to repairing asphalt surfaces. This leaves another critical question unanswered: what is the civic body’s actual plan for the cracks and potholes on recently built cement roads? Rajiv Jagtap, President, Janmanch, commenting on the development said, “Firstly, the concrete roads should last for minimum of three decades, while here, the brand new cement roads built nearly two-three years ago, are facing the issue of cracks and potholes. This clearly shows that the quality of work is not upto the required standard.

 

Secondly, if potholes and cracks develop in the cement road, ideally, the civic body should cut that patch and install another fresh cement patch so as to ensure smooth riding surface. But patching pothole on cement roads with tar is a temporary fix and more of a jugad, which, in the long run, would become more dangerous for road users.” “Thirdly, if the department has to fill the potholes with bitumen on the cement roads, then what was the benefit of building cement road instead of old tar roads, what is the need to spend crores of rupees in such failed infrastructure,” Jagtap added. If the NMC ultimately intends to rely on the Hot Mix Plant to patch up concrete failures with bitumen, it directly validates public scepticism.

 

Concrete roads are significantly more expensive to construct, cause prolonged traffic disruptions during their curing phase, and increase ambient summer temperatures. If their ultimate fate is to be layered with asphalt patches, the upper hand of this multi-crore project completely evaporates. As the monsoon approaches, the NMC must clarify its long-term engineering strategy. Patching premium concrete with temporary tar fixes is a superficial compromise that wastes taxpayer money and leaves Nagpur’s motorists navigating a mismatched, hazardous terrain.