Despite spending crores of rupees to fill potholes on the city’s roads, the desired results are not being achieved. Although the administration provides the necessary manpower, machinery, and modern technology for road repairs, the repaired roads deteriorate again within just a few days. To implement a permanent solution for potholes, the availability of labourers and staff has now been ensured, and approval has been granted for the purchase of various types of machinery. In the Standing Committee meeting held on August 21, a proposal worth Rs 1.49 crore was approved to fill potholes using Pressure Sensitive Technology (PST) ‘Insta Road Patcher’ machine. However, some committee members have questioned the NMC’s pothole-filling methods. They were asking what the actual benefit of the work is if the roads break apart again just 15 days after repairs.

 

NMC spent between Rs 1.5 crore and Rs 2 crore on modern technologies such as upgrading the hot-mix plant and using ‘Jet Patch’ and ‘Insta Patch’ systems. Despite this, it has been observed that pothole repairs carried out at key locations such as Zero Mile, Mayor’s Bungalow, Sitabuldi, the route from Munje Square to Vijay Talkies, and the Congress Nagar-Dhantoli area do not last even 15 days. Standing Committee Chairperson Shivani Dani-Wakhare had proposed a more systematic approach to road repairs. The plan involved consolidating citizen complaints received between Monday and Friday, categorising them by location and zone, and then filling all potholes on a specific road in a single operation. This would have increased the pace of work. However, she stated that the concerned department expressed its inability to adopt this method. With Eid and the upcoming Ganeshotsav festival in mind, the administration has planned to prioritise filling potholes in select areas before the 26th of this month.