The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has assigned a secondary engineer to each of the city’s 227 electoral wards to speed up pothole repairs during the monsoon. These engineers will search for potholes in their local areas and fix them quickly.
Municipal Commissioner and administrator Bhushan Gagrani shared new guidelines at a review meeting of the Roads and Transport department held on Monday, June 9.
1. Each engineer is responsible for around 10 to 15 kilometres of roads.
2. Engineers were told to fix potholes between 6 and 12 inches in size as soon as possible.
3. All potholes must be repaired in a square shape for an even road surface.
4. Repair work will continue throughout the week, but the major part of the work will take place over the weekends to avoid traffic.
5. To prevent any delays in material supply, each contractor must have their own mastic manufacturing setup.
6. Mastic cookers must be available at the divisional level. A proper weekly schedule must be followed to track weekend repair work.
The use of cold mix to repair potholes is not allowed on roads wider than six metres. BMC has approved the use of mastic asphalt and geopolymer concrete. These materials are considered stronger and more suitable for long-term use.
A deployment plan is being created for mastic cookers. All mastic cooker trucks must have GPS devices. Vehicles without GPS will not be reimbursed for any pothole repair work.
Each deputy engineer must monitor their roads physically and not just from the office. They are advised to use two-wheelers to check roads every other day, especially in areas with heavy rainfall. Deputy and assistant engineers must work together for the deployment of materials and vehicles.
As heavy rains increase each year, so do reports of potholes despite the ongoing citywide concretisation drive launched in 2022. In addition to this, the civic body has kept aside INR 154 crore for pothole repairs this year.