MBMC awards the contract to a Nagpur-based agency
Bhayandar : Fed up of re-emerging potholes and patches in spite of being repeatedly filled, the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) has chalked out an elaborate plan to get rid of the menace by using modern technology.
MBMC’s Public Works Department recently floated tenders in this context and awarded the contract to Atasha Ashirwad Builders, a Nagpur-based agency that would execute on the spot pothole repair work by engaging ‘Jet Patcher’ machines.
The company which has successfully carried out repair works in Amravati and Nagpur will get paid according to area covered at Rs 1,408 per square meter.
Although the standing committee has approved Rs 50 lakh as an initial budgetary allowance for execution of the project, going by the vast area which spreads across an area of 79.4 sq.km compounded by the battered condition of roads, the total expenditure is expected to touch Rs 2 crore. This would be for the first time that MBMC would undertake road repair work by not engaging manual labour but machine instead. As of now the MBMC has deployed local contractors who use hot asphalt. However, the machine will carry out repairs by using customised cold mix patching system before sucking out the earlier laid tar layers.
“The Jet Patcher price tag is on the higher side as compared to the conventional pothole repairs. However, the mechanical process work not only comes with a 3-year warranty, it’s also a quick fix system,” said a PWD officer.
Used across the globe for maintenance and repairs of roads, the Jet Patcher works on an auto-mode module right from cleaning the pothole to drying it and adding the cold mix and finally laying within minutes.
Suresh Golani
