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PCMC’s ‘JetPachter’ brings pothole saga to an end
On the other hand, PMC stuck to its old method of using just tar and filling potholes, flouting road committee norms
Following incessant rains, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) took up road repair work to fill up several potholes in the city. Friday being a sunny day, PMC filled potholes using tar. However, on most locations, the potholes were filled without following the guidelines mentioned by the road committee which submitted its report to the civic body last year.
As per the committee report, the civic body fills up potholes with whatever assorted material is available, including paving blocks. The committee said proper levelling and compacting is not done resulting in a heap at the spot.
DV Rao, an activist and electrical engineer from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur, said potholes emerge because the road is not compacted properly. Rao pointed out that the correct method of repairing a pothole was, “to cut the sides, completely making it into a rectangular or square shape pothole and then filling it with raw materials.”
On one hand, PMC was not following the standard procedure, while on the other, neighbouring Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) showed the way by following the guidelines.
Aiming to accelerate road repairs for this rainy season, PCMC on Friday, began work using the JetPatcher, an automated pothole filling machine, on the Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) road at Nashik Phata.
The machine filled two patches of one square metre area in 35 minutes, said officials. The workers first cleaned the roads and then cut the portion into a square shape.
Vijay Bhojane,deputy engineer of BRTS department said, "This was a trial, based on which, we will decide whether this machine is suitable for us or not. We selected Nashik road for the trial because this road is flooded with traffic. If this road gives us good results, then there is no need to take another trial.”
According to city engineer Rajan Patil, the pothole repair machine, having a capacity of repairing 25 potholes a day, will be used for eight days in Pimpri-Chinchwad city.
Few days ago, standing committee had approved Rs.1.10 crore budgetary allocation for hiring the JetPatcher. Standing committee head Sima Salave said ,"To ensure the safety of commuters, the standing committee has allocated Rs.1.10 crore, of the total Rs.9 crore budgetary allocation.”