Shoddy pothole repair work makes roads dusty

Commuters of Kalyan and Dombivli have complained of increasing dust in the air, owing to craters on roads and the loose gravel used to fill them up. This has made

Commuters of Kalyan and Dombivli have complained of increasing dust in the air, owing to craters on roads and the loose gravel used to fill them up. This has made travelling a hassle for many and also increased the risk of accidents.

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Residents of Dombivli raised concerns about bad roads at Gharda Circle, Shivaji Udyog Nagar and Tilak Nagar. While there has been no pothole death so far this monsoon, commuters said the road repair works being undertaken by the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) is not up to the mark.

Surekha Revankar, 48, a resident of Ram Nagar, Dombivli (East), said there is increasing pollution in the city owing to bad roads.

“My son and I fell off my scooter after it skidded at Tilak Nagar, as there were small stones on the roads. He now fears travelling by two-wheelers,” said Revankar.

Last year, there were five pothole deaths in Kalyan, following which, the civic body had filled 8,653 potholes. This year, despite several complaints from residents, the civic body is yet to fill up the potholes.

In August, the civic body had recorded 5,398 potholes in Kalyan and Dombivli.

“The F cabin Road, which connects Kalyan (East) and (West), is the worst stretch. Several motorists skid on the road every day. The civic body undertakes the repair work on this stretch, but the potholes resurface within days,” said Prakash Shinde, 45, a commuter. He said it is also difficult to breathe because the stretch is dusty.

Some of the roads that have developed potholes are Shreeram Chowk, Chakki Naka and Suchak Naka on the Pune Link Road, the F Cabin Road in Kalyan (East), Tata Power Lane and Khambalpada in Dombivli and Cholegaon Road in Thakuli.

Before the beginning of monsoon, KDMC had assured citizens that it would ensure that the roads are repaired.

KDMC uses two methods to maintain the roads in its jurisdiction – dense bituminous macadam (DBM) and asphalt concrete before monsoon and WBM (water bound macadam) during monsoon.

Sapna Koli, city engineer, KDMC, said, “Since it has stopped raining, we have started asphalting the roads at all major stretches and internal roads. The work of asphalting major roads is underway and will be completed before Dussehra. Meanwhile, the work on small roads will be done by Diwali.”

She said the roads have become slippery owing to the gravel and dust, and the civic body aims to repair such roads at the earliest.

The civic body will fill up potholes at the cost of ₹17 crore this year, as against ₹13 crore spent last year.

KDMC also has plans to undertake mastic asphalting on all the bridges in the city.

“We had done mastic asphalting on Waldhuni bridge and did not have a single pothole this year. We will do the same for the other bridges and the work will begin soon,” Koli said.

Waldhuni bridge which connects Kalyan city to Ulhasnagar is a vital link and used to develop several potholes every year. However, this year, commuters had a smooth ride on the bridge.

“Waldhuni bridge did not have a single pothole this year, as compared to last year. The civic body should take up such works across the city so that our travel is smoother,” said Kanchan Kotkar, 36, a commuter who takes the bridge to connect to Ulhasnagar city for work.