Thane's Roads to be Pothole-Free by May 31

The Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) has set a deadline of May 31 to finish all the works and have pothole-free roads across the city.

As per TMC Commissioner, 90 per cent works of the road repair undertaken under ₹214 crore package in the corporation limits have completed. The package covers a stretch of around 53 kms.

Meanwhile, the remaining 10 percent work will begin in a week claimed TMC commissioner Abhijit Bangar.

The TMC had initiated multiple roads works in Thane in December after Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde assured pothole-free roads within six months.

The TMC, which received flak during the last monsoon for huge potholes on roads, has now assured to have much safer roads. The funds have been allocated under the integrated road development programme by the Maharashtra government, which will be used for the upgradation of Thane city and suburban roads that fall under the TMC jurisdiction.

Last year during monsoon, Thane recorded the deaths of seven citizens due to potholes.

The residents and activists blamed the civic body for lack of upkeep of the roads in several parts ahead of the monsoon.

In this road development plan, the civic body will undertake works in three types which includes deep resurfacing, Ultra-Thin White Topping (UTWT) and cement concretisation.

Earlier, a survey done by the TMC revealed that the city has a total of 1,649 potholes. Although the civic body-initiated pothole-filling in several parts throughout the monsoon, the residents complained that after a few heavy downpours, the potholes are back on the roads.

The TMC used Wet Bound Macadem, Cold mix, paver blocks, asphalting or concretisation and spends around ₹2.5 crore for this work every year.

As per the civic body, out of the total 381 kms road network in TMC limits, a total of 208 kms are cement concrete roads, while remaining are bitumen roads. This means nearly 55 percent of the roads are cement roads.