19 tonnes of Austria’s pothole-filling mixture yet to reach Mumbai

Mumbai city news: In 2016, BMC had started testing pothole-filling materials worth Rs50,000 from about seven international agencies. Of these, Smart Age Products from Israel and Eco Green Infrastructure Development from Austria were shortlisted.

While roads across the city are riddled with potholes, the pothole-filling mix that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had ordered from Austria is yet to arrive. While the shipment was supposed to reach Mumbai on June 30, civic officials said that they expect it to arrive by July 5.

The BMC has ordered 19 tonnes of this material from each of the firms at a cost of Rs70 lakh. (HT file photo)

In 2016, BMC had started testing pothole-filling materials worth Rs50,000 from about seven international agencies. Of these, Smart Age Products from Israel and Eco Green Infrastructure Development from Austria were shortlisted. An official said that the material from Israel has reached the city and has been stored at BMC’s asphalt plant at Worli.

“The pothole-filling materials from the two international agencies sustained even extreme rainfall during our tests. However, since the material is extremely expensive, we are going to start manufacturing it in our plant in Worli from next year,” said an official.

The BMC has ordered 19 tonnes of this material from each of the firms at a cost of Rs70 lakh.

In 2016, the condition of Mumbai roads were so bad that even the Bombay high court pulled up the civic body for its shoddy work.

The HC asked BMC to consult experts from both, the Indian Institute of Engineering and the Central Road Research Institute to ensure that a better quality material is used to fill the potholes. Before this, the BMC used a material called ‘cold mix’ (consisting bitumen) manufactured in its own plant but it failed to live through the heavy rainfall.