Nagpur: At a time when NMC’s hotmix department has claimed to have repaired 35,717 potholes from January 1, 2015 to May 30, 2018, files pertaining repairs of 14,995 potholes in 2015-16 have gone missing.
A reply to an RTI query by activist Abhay Kolarkar hints at several irregularities in the department’s functioning. Interestingly, the department has claimed to have repaired maximum number of potholes in 2015-16. The standing committee had sanctioned Rs32.5 crore for repairs in 2015-16.
The department also claimed to have repaired 9,395 potholes in 2016-17 and 11,327 in 2017-18 (till May 30) by spending Rs1915.08 lakh.
The pothole repairs are carried out by the hotmix department and also zonal offices of the NMC. According to the reply, the number of repair works carried out was more at the zonal level.
“The department’s claims also exposes the poor quality road work requiring repairs frequently. Despite spending huge amounts, the condition of the roads continues to deteriorate,” said Kolarkar.
“After shoddy and slow pace of works, the street repairs have now become the single largest expense for the NMC. In fact, bad roads are also a major cause for indirect costs to the citizens, including damage to vehicles and time lost in transit,” said Kolarkar.
The problems are also the result of hasty construction, often without proper foundation, and deferred repairs over the decades. A major part of the road network is decaying faster than it is being rebuilt.
TOI has been highlighting how the NMC is ignoring road works in the city. It even ignores anomalies by contractors such as not erecting boards containing details like amount spent for the road, its defect liability period etc.
“It’s bad all over the city and things are getting worse,” admitted a traffic constable deployed at Katol Road square. Most city roads have reached a state of disrepair in which, even based on the administration’s optimistic projections, they are not likely to improve this year too.
