Nagpur Year after year, same old potholes

Nagpur Year after year, same old potholes

Most city roads are full of potholes through out the year but if you observe, the potholes are mostly at the same place year after year. There is no evil eye on these spots but several reasons why such spots are a nightmare for motorists.

A road contractor told TOI that potholes develop regularly at a particular spot due to water seepage from old water pipelines. "Many pipelines of Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) are in very bad shape. They have developed cracks at many places. The water from these pipelines seeps up affecting the binding strength of the road. If water comes into contact with tar for long time it becomes unstuck. That is why there are more potholes during rains," he explained.

The contractor added that cement roads do not have such problems because the material used in them is not much affected by water. "If you fill up the potholes with cement instead of tar then it won't help. The water will flow to some other spot creating a pothole there. The only solution is to replace the pipeline. We hope that this problem will be solved when the pipelines are replaced under 24X7 water supply project," he said. Leaky pipelines are not the only reason for pothole-prone spots. Some roads have a sag in the centre as a result of which water accumulates whenever it rains.

Water lies there till it gets evaporated. However, by the time, rains are over a pothole develops on the spot. NMC goes in for patching the potholes instead of tarring the whole road. When quality of the patching material is poor, it comes off within weeks. Patching is done again with the same result. As the NMC officials do not inspect quality of the work, this exercise only gives temporary relief at a huge cost to NMC exchequer. A NMC road official said that roads are frequently dug by MSEDCL, telephone companies and NMC's water works department.

"Many roads have been dug up within a span of two to three months by various agencies including NMC for laying cables and pipelines. The road contractor employed by the cable or pipeline department is a small player and does the worst quality work. So the road remains in bad shape till the whole road is repaired," he said. Commenting on the issue, Ramdaspeth resident Anil Wadpalliwar said that NMC should identify such spots and appoint a committee of experts to provide a solution. "They can't just say that some places are potholeprone. How come roads in cities like Chandigarh do not have potholes round the year? These lame excuses won't convince the Nagpurians," he said angrily.