MCPolicyNext | Mumbai to soon be pothole free as roads are being converted into concrete: Nitin Gadkari

Mumbai's roads develop potholes during the monsoon rains when rains play havoc with life in the city as the heavy continuous downpour deteriorates road surface.

Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on March 23 said that Mumbai's 2,055 km road network will soon be free of potholes as they will be converted into concrete roads in the next two years.

Speaking at the inaugural MoneyControl Policy Next - The Rs 10 Trillion Infra Push summit in New Delhi, Gadkari said Mumbai's bitumen roads will be concretised in the next two years in an attempt to rid them of potholes.

"We are spending around Rs 6,000-crore to make all roads in Mumbai pothole free, the tender of the project has been awarded and the project will be completed in two years," Gadkari said.

Last year the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation had come out with a Rs 6,000-crore contract to concretise 397 km of Mumbai roads. The contract was divided into three parts- Island City to concretise 212 roads, Eastern suburbs to concretise 181 roads, and Western suburbs to concretise 516 roads.

NCC Ltd has won the bid to carry out works in the western suburbs, but had initially backed out of the project.

The company had written a letter of regret to the BMC, stating it cannot carry out the work at par.

Mumbai's roads develop potholes during the monsoon rains when rains play havoc with life in the city. The heavy continuous rain deteriorates road surface - particularly, of the bitumen road which most of the city roads are made of - and leads to development of pot holes and deteriorated pavement.

In the summers due to extreme heat, the tar/asphalt melts and opens the aggregates, leading to pothole formation. Also, water and asphalt cannot stay together and eventually give rise to potholes.

Compared to this, concrete roads do not develop any potholes. In case of concrete roads, once the road is open to traffic after 14 -21 days, the heat does not have any effect and also water does not impact the concrete road structure.

Further, concrete roads being pothole-resistant doesn’t require period surfacing. These roads can also easily bear the weight of heavy vehicles and have a life of at least 30 years, compared to a 5-year life span for tar roads.