Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Despite spending crores, the state capital roads have again exposed the shoddy works of the Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC), Public Works Department (PWD) and Capital Project Administration (CPA). Craters and potholes have surfaced once again which have kept commuters and office goers in traffic snarls that run into hours. The series of spell of heavy rain damaged the road construction material.
Spell of rain washed away the ongoing temporary patch work on roads in the state capital. Last couple of days, state capital experienced series of spells of moderate to heavy rains. It hampered not only ongoing pothole filling and patch work of Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) but also washed away gravels and soil used to fill potholes. Even the rain washed the patch work on roads.
After Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan pulled up road construction agencies, BMC administration, Public Works Department (PWD) and Capital Project Administration (CPA) swung into action for road repairing.
Locals said that potholes have become money-spinners. Civic body teams simply dump bituminous material into potholes instead of filling them scientifically to ensure that they are not damaged by rain and vehicles. As a result, the same potholes are being filled up again and again, and new ones are also coming up. Lack of quality bituminous mix is also a reason for the material getting washed away or eroding in a day or two.
Permanent repairing not possible now: BMC commissioner
BMC commissioner KVS Chaudhary, while talking to Free Press, said, “we will again start filling potholes where ever it is needed. It is temporary repairing work and permanent work will be carried on after rainy season by September end as bitumen does has grip on gravels in rainy water. So permanent repairing is not possible in rainy season.”
