In a sustained campaign, MiD DAY dwells upon the state of the city's roads that afflict commuters day after day. We talk to stakeholders, authorities and experts to tell you what they think, plan, and recommend so that your daily commute is no longer a nightmare
In a sustained campaign, MiD DAY dwells upon the state of the city's roads that afflict commuters day after day. We talk to stakeholders, authorities and experts to tellu00a0you what they think, plan, and recommend so that your daily commute is no longer a nightmare
The standing technical advisory committee (STAC), constituted by the BMC to study and assess the condition of roads in 2004, had recommended several ways to improve the sorry state of streets and cut on their maintenance cost, but the panel's suggestions apparently fell on deaf ears. N V Merani, STAC chairman, road, who along with other members formulated a thorough report on the condition of roads, said they had tabled the report before the civic body in 2004.u00a0 The other members in the panel, which was formed following a high court directive, included the then director of Central Research Road Institute and several retired engineers who worked for the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai.
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Merani, also a former principal secretary of Public Works Department, said, they had tabled a concrete report on the conditions of roads and what can be done to make them better. He said they had also suggested ways to stop annual ritual of splurging of taxpayers' money in the name of road repairs. "We have mentioned what kind of treatment should be given to potholes and depressions (cave-ins) on the roads. If the base of the roads are not stronger and substandard material is used for making their surface, obviously they will be dotted with potholes in no time."
As per the STAC recommendations, a repaired road can last for 4-5 years and then it can be repaired again. "There is no need to repair it every year", he said. The BMC floats tenders for road repair and awards them to contractors for carrying out the work at ward level. Since each ward office has at least 5-6 contractors for different areas, the work is distributed among them. An official from the BMC's road department said, "These petty contractors deliberately do shoddy work as it helps them make a killing at the cost of taxpayers' money and also ensures another contract next year." Merani said that the panel had recommended the BMC to conduct a third party assessment on such works as the civic body seldom supervises the quality of work.
"If not a BMC inspection, onset of monsoon bares their shoddy work. Since maintenance work is done at the ward level and the chief engineer doesn't have a clue about the project, except for the report that comes to him."u00a0 The panel had also suggested a third party assessment of the projects. It would audit the potholes, trenches and condition of paver blocks. "Firstly, the BMC needs to study a particular road in context with traffic and topography and then make a proper plan for repairing the same." He recommended the civic body should remove the bad patchwork carried out on the roads and make the surface is even. Extra layers should also be added to the road to stop seepage. "They should have a long term plan instead of these short ones."
As per the STAC report, there are several other factors that contribute to make the city's roads miserable, particularly during monsoon. They include improper reinstatement of trenches, leakage from the underground pipes, stagnation of water, inadequate sub-grade and pavement drainage and disruptions caused on the existing roads due to ongoing flyover and metro projects. "We also suggested the civic body to have different chief engineers for roads, bridges and traffic. The panel had also recommended to provide training to some officials at the IITs, but it seems our suggestions have fallen on deaf ears," he said.
Improve roads before monsoons
It's heartening to know that MiD DAY has started a campaign ('12 roads that make up one hell of a ride', April 18) to coax authorities to improve the conditions of the potholed roads before monsoon.u00a0u00a0I would like to add that the Priyadarshini Junction on Eastern Express Highway (EEH), Sumannagar is a nightmare for motorists. The construction work is going on for years now. The paver blocks have broken on the southbound road, before the signal at the circle, and this hampers the smooth movement of vehicles.
Similarly, the southern end of Sion flyover is uneven. The Amar Mahal flyover on EEH also is not smooth but corrugated and this slows down the traffic movement. I hope that the authorities pay attention to the commuters' woes and improve the conditions of the city roads well in time.
u00a0 ufffd Sarat chandra, via e-mail
Potholes on Aarey
Despite collecting crores as toll tax, the entire stretch of Aarey road from Marol to Goregaon is in a pathetic condition since last year. The authorities have not spend enough money to maintain this road, as a result numerous potholes still persist. Travelling on Marwah Marg, Saki Vihar Road, Andheri (East) is a nightmare. An early action on the above mentioned routes will be highly appreciated.
ufffd Sumit Bhattacharya via e-mail
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